A series of PTA and DAPTA platinum(II) and palladium(II) thionate complexes of the type trans-[M(SN)(2)P-2] were prepared from the reaction of cis-[MCl2P2] [M = Pt, Pd; P = PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane), DAPTA (3,7-diacetyl-1,3,7-triaza-5-phosphabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane)] with the in situ generated sodium salts of the heterocyclic thiones S-m-methylpyrimidine-2-thione, S-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine-2-thione, S-4,6-dihydroxypyrimidine-2-thione, benzothiazole-2-thione, benzoxazole-2-thione, S-1,3,4,-thiadiazole-2-thione, S-4,5-H-thiazolan-2-thione, and S-primidine-4(1H)-one-2-thione. The X-ray structures of six of the compounds confirm the trans disposition and, only in the case of [Pd2Cl2(S-pyrimidine-4(1H)-one-2-thionate)(2)(PTA)(2)], a dinuclear structure with a Pd-Pd distance of 3.0265(14)angstrom was observed. In vitro cytotoxicities against human ovarian cancer cell lines A2780 and A2780cisR were evaluated for ten complexes showing a high inhibition of cellular growth with a comparable inhibitory potency (IC50) against A2780 cells to that of cisplatin. Notably, the compounds also show significant (up to 7-fold higher) activity in cisplatin-resistant A2780cisR cell lines.