The simple synthesis of a family of palladates containing an imidazolium counterion is presented. These "ate" complexes can be easily converted into well-defined palladium-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes. The synthetic protocols leading to the "ate" and to the Pd-NHC neutral complexes have been exemplified with various NHC ligands. The palladates prove efficient pre-catalysts enabling Suzuki-Miyaura and Mizoroki-Heck reactions.

A new class of [Au(NHC)(Bpin)] complexes has been synthesized and their unusual reactivity was investigated using computational and experimental methods.

The preparation of [NHC·H][Pd(η3-R-allyl)Cl2] complexes is disclosed and represents a facile, an atom-economical and rapid synthesis.

A series of imidazolium-based palladate precatalysts has been synthesized and the catalytic activity of these air- and moisture-stable complexes evaluated as a function of the nature of the imidazolium counterion. These precatalysts can be converted under catalytic conditions to Pd-NHC species capable of enabling the Buchwald–Hartwig aryl amination and the α-arylation of ketones. Both reactions can be carried out efficiently under very mild operating conditions. The effectiveness of the protocol was tested on functionality-laden substrates.