A new Schiff base ligand, 1-[(2-pyridin-2-yl-ethylimino)-methyl]-naphthalen-2-ol, (HPEMN) has been synthesized equipped with naphthalene and pyridine backbone, to study the interplay of various non-covalent interactions. Experiments have been carried out to investigate the outcome of combinations of HPEMN and ZnCl2(1), ZnBr2(2), ZnI2(3), Zn(NO3)2·6H2O (4), Co(ClO4)2·6H2O (5), Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O (6) and VO(acac)2(7). The prevalent non-covalent interactions described here include naphthalene–naphthalene (for 1, 2, 3 and 5) and pyridine–pyridine π–π stacking (for 4) interactions, nitrate anion⋯π interaction (for 4) and hydrogen bonding (for 6). HPEMN is able to sense Zn(II) selectively and this phenomenon was further demonstrated by the results of fluorescence studies in H2O/acetonitrile (8:2, v/v) HEPES buffer (pH = 7.4) solution and human lung cancer cell lines. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd