The palladium-substituted tungstoantimonate(III) [Cs(2)Na(H(2)O)(10)Pd(3)(alpha-SbW(9)O(33))(2)](9-) (1) has been synthesized and characterized by IR, elemental analysis, and electrochemistry. Single-crystal X-ray analysis was carried out on Cs(3)KNa(5)[Cs(2)Na(H(2)O)(10)Pd(3)(SbW(9)O(33))(2)].16.5H(2)O, which crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/m, with a = 13.3963(13) A, b = 19.5970(19) A, c = 18.1723(17) A, beta = 100.416(2) degrees, and Z = 2. Polyanion 1 represents the first structurally characterized palladium(II)-substituted polyoxometalate. The title polyoxoanion consists of two (alpha-Sb(III)W(9)O(33)) Keggin moieties linked via three Pd(2+) ions leading to a sandwich-type structure. The palladium centers are equivalent, and they are coordinated in a square-planar fashion. The central belt of 1 contains also one sodium and two cesium ions which reduces the symmetry of the polyanion to C(2)(v)(). Polyanion 1 was synthesized in good yield by reaction of Pd(CH(3)COO)(2) with Na(9)[SbW(9)O(33)] in aqueous acidic medium (pH 4.8). A cyclic voltammetry study of polyanion 1 in a pH 5 medium gives essentially the same characteristics as those observed for the deposition of Pd(0) on the glassy carbon electrode surface from Pd(2+) solutions. The film thickness increases with the number of potential cycles or the duration of potentiostatic electrolysis. The particularly sharp hydrogen sorption/desorption pattern indicates the excellent quality of the Pd(0) deposit from polyanion 1.