The work in this present investigation reports the syntheses, crystal structures and magnetic properties of five dinuclear lanthanide complexes having compositions [Tb2(HL)4(NO3)6] (1), [Tb2(HL)4Cl6]·2EtOH (2), [Yb2(HL)4(NO3)6] (3), [Yb2(HL)4Cl6]·2EtOH (4) and [Y2(HL)4(NO3)6] (5) with HL = 8-hydroxyquinaldine. It is evident from the crystal structures that the coordination number of trivalent lanthanide ions in compounds 1, 3 and 5 is nine, whereas that for compounds 2 and 4 is six. A dynamic magnetic study shows that both compounds 1 and 3 exhibit single-molecule-magnet (SMM) behavior while compounds 2 and 4 do not have any SMM property.