The reaction between isonitrile in cis-[MCl2(CNR)2] [M = Pd, R = Cy 1, Bu
t
2, C6H3(2,6-Me2) 3; M = Pt, R = Cy 4, Bu
t
5, C6H3(2,6-Me2) 6] and various unsubstituted or substituted iminoisoindolin-1-ones HNCC6R1R2R3R4CONH [R1−R4 = H 7; R1, R3, R4 = H, R2 = Me/R1, R2, R4 = H, R3 = Me 8 (isomeric mixture); R1, R4 = H, R2, R3 = Cl 9] proceeds under reflux conditions in CHCl3 for 2 h. The subsequent workup provides complexes [MCl{C(NC(C6R1R2R3R4CON))N(H)R}(CNR)] (M = Pd, 10−18; M = Pt, 19−27), bearing a novel type of carbene ligands, which were isolated in good (80−85% for the PdII complexes) to moderate (60−65% for the PtII species) yields. The addition of the iminoisoindolin-1-one to isonitriles is metal-mediated and has a general character. The reaction of cis-[PtCl2(CNC6H4OMe-4)2] (28) with 7 affords a mixture of PtII-containing species including the monoadduct [PtCl{C(NC(C6H4CON))N(H)C6H4OMe-4}(CNC6H4OMe-4)] (29), the unusual binuclear compound [Pt2{C(NC(C6H4CON))N(H)C6H4OMe-4}2(CNC6H4OMe-4)2(μ-HNCC6H4CON)](Cl) (30) with a bridging monodeprotonated 3-iminoisoindolin-1-one, and [Pt(C6H4CONCNH){C(NC(C6H4CON))N(H)C6H4OMe-4}(CNC6H4OMe-4)] (31), the latter resulting from the replacement of the chloro ligand in 29 by the deprotonated iminoisoindolin-1-one. Complexes 10−27 were characterized by elemental analyses (C, H, N), ESI+-MS, IR, and 1D (1H, 13C{1H}) and 2D (1H,1H-COSY, 1H,13C-HMQC/1H,13C-HSQC, 1H,13C-HMBC) NMR spectroscopies, while 29−31 by ESI+-MS, IR, and 1H NMR. In addition, the structures of three carbene complexes (10, 27, and 30) were elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.