The mixed-ligand complex of Pt(pddt) (bipy) (pddt = 6,7-dihydro-5H-1,4-dithiepin-2,3-dithiolate, C5H6S42-; bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine, C10H8N2) containing both an electron donor of the sulfur-rich dithiolate ligand (pddt) and a pi-electron acceptor (bipy) was prepared. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n with a = 8.697(4), b = 23.948(8), c = 15.750(9) Angstrom, beta = 97.76(5)degrees and Z = 8. It consists of diads made up from two crystallographically independent Pt(pddt) (bipy) molecules. The platinum is coordinated by two nitrogen and two sulfur atoms to form a slightly distorted square-planar geometry. There is no significant intermolecular S ... S contact. It is solvatochromic and shows an intense electronic absorption band due to a ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer transition.