A binuclear cadmium complex Cd2(biba)4 (Hbiba = 2-(1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)benzoic acid) has been successfully synthesized via solvothermal method, and characterized by single-crystal x-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and x-ray powder diffraction. Molecular structural analysis showed that each Cd2(biba)4 monomer was connected to four neighbors via intermolecular hydrogen bonds to form a 2D supramolecular structure. Fluorescence emission spectrum of Cd2(biba)4 was also measured in the solid state. Complex Cd2(biba)4 exhibited good photocatalytic activities for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye, sulfadiazine (SD) antibiotic and forchlorfenuron (CPPU) phytohormone under UV irradiation at room temperature. Reaction kinetics studies suggested that the photodegradation of MB, SD and CPPU were in accordance with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The photodegradation mechanism of MB, SD and CPPU catalyzed by Cd2(biba)4 was also discussed in detail. This paper presents important examples for the photodegradation of antibiotic and phytohormone using metal–organic complex as catalyst.