A series of square-planar palladium(II) complexes of the type trans-PdX2(SR2)2[X = Cl, Br, or I and SR2= SMeEt, SC4H8, SEt2, SPri2, S(CH2·Ph)2, or SPhMe], have been synthesised, most for the first time, and their i.r. and laser Raman spectra recorded for the range 400–70 cm.–1 Assignments for most of the fundamentals are presented in terms of the skeletal D2h symmetry. It is concluded that the principal fundamentals occur in the following ranges: νa(PdCl)= 353–370, νs(PdCl)= 303–309, νa(PdBr)= 250–284, νs(PdBr)= 188–201, νa(Pdl)= 178–202, νs(Pdl)= 136–139, and ν(PdS)= 270–330 cm.–1. The vibrational spectra of the free ligands are also presented.