Complexation of 2,7-dipyridin-2-ylnaphthyridine (bpnp) with a mixture of (PhCN)(2)PdCl(2) and Pd(2)(dba)(3) resulted in the formation of a water soluble and air-stable tripalladium cluster [Pd(3)(bpnp)(2)Cl(2)]Cl(2), which was characterized by NMR spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses.