A metal-organic gel (MOG) was synthesized that is composed of manganese(II) as the central ion and 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid as the ligand. The resulting MOG exhibits excellent activity for catalyzing the chemiluminescence (CL) of the luminol/hydrogen peroxide system. The CL system was characterized by CL spectra, UV-vis absorption spectra and by studying potential interferences by common radical scavengers. The CL reaction was exploited in a new scheme for the determination of hydrogen peroxide. CL intensity increases linearly in the 0.4 μM ~ 3 mM hydrogen peroxide concentration range, and the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.12 μM. The method was extended to an enzymatic assay for glucose by using glucose oxidase and by measurement of the enzymatically formed hydrogen peroxide. The assay works in the 0.2 μM ~ 3 mM glucose concentration range, and the LOD is 0.08 μM. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of the synthesized Mn-containing MOGs catalyzing luminol-hydrogen peroxide chemiluminescent reaction, which can be used to establish a new CL method for the detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose.