Production of hydrogen from renewable sources, particularly from water, is an intensive area of research, which has far-reaching relevance in hydrogen economy. A homogeneous catalytic method is presented for producing clean hydrogen gas from water, in a reaction of water with a diboron compound as the reductant, under ambient reaction conditions. The Pd-catalytic system is stable in water and displays excellent recyclability. Hydroxy analogues such as alcohols are compatible with the Pd/BPin system and generate hydrogen gas efficiently. The BPin-HO system, in the presence of palladium, is an excellent catalytic system for selective hydrogenation of olefins.

A ligand controlled selective hydroborylation of alkynes to α- or β-vinylboronates has been developed using a Pd catalyst. The high α-selectivity displayed by this reaction can be switched to furnish β-vinylboronates by altering the ligand from a trialkylphosphine to N-heterocyclic carbene. A variety of terminal alkynes are shown to furnish the corresponding α- or β-vinylboronates in good to excellent selectivity and yield. The mechanistic studies suggest that the solvent is the proton source and bromobenzene functions as an important additive in driving this reaction forward.

A diazo species is trapped in an intermolecular fashion by two independent ion species in tandem at the carbene center to install an electrophile and a nucleophile on the same carbon. This metal-free concept, which is unprecedented, has been illustrated by regioselective synthesis of a variety of vinyl halides, vinyl sulfones, and alkyne derivatives.

A palladium-boronate/borane-system -catalyzed isomerization of olefins has been uncovered. An efficient catalytic combination of [Pd(OAc)]-boronate-PCy-enabled olefin isomerization at 80 °C has been investigated. Addition of water to the reaction showed a remarkable improvement and the isomerization occurred at ambient temperature. These catalytic systems function efficiently for the isomerization of functionalized as well as unfunctionalized olefins. The catalytic conditions demonstrate the involvement of both nonhydride and metal-hydride medium and can be switchable with water as an additive.

Palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of hydrazones with aryl halides in the absence of external ligand is reported. The versatility of this coupling reaction is demonstrated in showcasing the selectivity of coupling reaction in the presence of hydroxyl and amine functional groups. This method allows synthesizing a variety of heterocyclic compounds, which are difficult to access from other traditional methods and are not synthesized by employing similar coupling reactions. Application of the present methodology is validated in tandem reaction of ketones to the corresponding substituted olefins in a single pot experiment.