Abstract.[Bis(diphenylphosphino)methylamine]dichloropaUadium (1), C25H23C12P2PdN, M,= 576.7, monoclinic, P21/n, a = 9.202 (1), b = 13.81, (1) (dppma) ligand chelating to a Pt-group metal atom are reported. The complexes (1) and (2) have chloride ligands trans to the dppma ligand while the third complex, (3), has cyanide ligands trans to the dppma ligand. The complexes have a highly distorted, square-planar coordination geometry. The ring strain associated with the four-membered chelate rings is evident in the distorted tetrahedral angles at P, which range from 93.3 (2) to 122.2 (5) °, and the 0108-2701/92/050806-06506.00