N-Heterocyclic Carbene Transfer from Gold(I) to Palladium(II)

N-Heterocyclic carbene gold(I) complexes [(L)AuCl] [L = 1,3-diethyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene ( 3a ); 1,3-dibenzyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene ( 3c ); 1,3-dipicolyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene ( 3d ); 1,3-diethylimidazol-2-ylidene ( 5a ); and 1-methylthiomethyl-3-mesitylimidazol-2-ylidene ( 10 )] react with [(PhCN) 2 PdCl 2 ] to give the corresponding palladium complexes, and the reactions are promoted by the addition of triphenylphosphine. This study demonstrates that the carbene moiety can be transferred from Au(I) to Pd(II) for the first time.