NHCs go nano: Ruthenium nanoparticles were formed from (cyclooctadiene)(cyclooctatriene)ruthenium(0) and stabilized by N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). Solid‐state NMR spectroscopy revealed both the coordination of the NHC ligands on the surface of the particles and their surface reactivity.

Coordinatively unsaturated Pt(II) complex [Pt(I(t)Bu')(I(t)Bu)](+) stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands dehydrogenates N,N-dimethylamineborane through a mechanism that involves hydride abstraction, assisted by an amine, to yield a platinum-hydride complex [PtH(I(t)Bu')(I(t)Bu)] with concomitant formation of the boronium cation [(NHMe2)2BH2](+). This latter species is very likely in equilibrium with the THF stabilized borenium cation [(NHMe2)(THF)BH2](+), bearing an acidic NH group that is able to protonate the platinum hydride [PtH(I(t)Bu')(I(t)Bu)] releasing H2, the amino borane H2B-NMe2 and regenerating the catalytic [Pt](+) species.