Pyridopyridazine dithione (PPD) was synthesized as a new sensitive and selective reagent for spectrophotometric and derivative spectrophotometric determination of palladium(II). In aqueous and micellar medium, PPD forms 1:4 complexes having molar absorptivities of 4.68 x 104 and 5.74 x 1041mol-lcm -t at 570 and 615nm, respectively. Beer's law was obeyed up to 2.2 and 2.5 gg m1-1 with detection limits of 0.2 and 0.1 gg m1-1. The relative standard deviations for 1.23 ggm1-1 were 2.6 and 1.3%, in the absence and presence of Triton X-100. In fourth-derivative mode, the regression equation, linear range, detection limit and RSD for 0.075 ~tg m1-1 were D4 : 4.3C + 1.5 x 10 -3, 0.013 -0.23 ggm1-1, 3.7ngml -a and 0.78%, respectively. The ionization constants of the reagent and stability constants of the complexes were evaluated. The method is free from interference by most common metal ions and anions. The method was applied for determination of palladium in activated charcoal.