Synthesis and X-ray single crystal structure analysis of the compound {[Ag-2(mu(2)-bpym)(mu-O-NO3)(2)]}(n), (1), (where bpym = 2,2'-bipyrimidine) are presented. Compound (1) has a (6,3)-2D honeycomb structure with a tetrahedral coordination geometry around the Ag(I) ion. In contrary to the solid state structural investigation, ESI-MS for (1) in solution shows a strong peak at m/z 423.0269 which indicates that the [Ag(bpym)(2)](+) cation is dominating instead of [Ag-2(bpym))(2+). The anti-microbial activity of (1) was screened against 15 multi-drug resistant bacteria in comparison to silver(I) sulphadiazine and it showed a high activity against Burkholderia mallei which causes glanders; with a MIC value of 4 mu g/ml. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.