An Air/Water‐Stable Tridentate N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐ Palladium(II) Complex: Catalytic CH Activation of Hydrocarbons via Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Process in Deuterium Oxide

While developing novel catalysts for carbon‐carbon or carbon‐heteroatom coupling (nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine), we were able to introduce tridentate N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐amidate‐alkoxide palladium(II) complexes. In aqueous solution, these NHC‐Pd(II) complexes showed high ability for CH activation of various hydrocarbons (cyclohexane, cyclopentane, dimethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, acetone, and toluene) under mild conditions.