Three classes of Pt(II) complexes of the types [PtMe 2 (NHC)] (NHC = 1,1′-dimethyl-3,3′-methylenediimidazolin-2,2′-diylidene), [PtMe 2 (N^N)] (N^N = 2,2′-bipyridine, 1,10phenanthroline), and [PtMe(C^N)(SMe 2 )] (C^N = 2-phenylpyridinate, benzo[h]quinolinate), with a systematic variation in the chelating ligand, were chosen to investigate the oxidative addition of Pt(II) complexes with acetyl halides and the ensuing C−C reductive elimination from the corresponding Pt(IV) complexes.In accordance with the nature of the chelating ligand, the following conclusions can be ascertained: (i) in the reaction of [PtMe 2 (NHC)] complex 1a with acetyl halides, the order of the energy barriers (kcal/mol) for C−X bond activation is computed as Cl (24.4) ≈ Br (23.7) ≈ I (23.6), which are in a narrow range, showing no significant halide effect; (ii) while the energy barriers for oxidative addition of acetyl halides to complex 1a are almost the same, the C sp 3 −C sp 2 (CH 3 −COMe) reductive elimination barriers from [PtMe 2 (NHC)(MeCO)X] for X = Cl, Br, I are 23.5, 16.3, and 10.3 kcal/mol, respectively (lower than the acetyl halide oxidative addition to [PtMe 2 (NHC)]), suggesting that, when X = I, the Pt(IV) complex is more prone to undergo reductive elimination in comparison to the related Cl and Br analogues; (iii) the NHC Pt(IV) complexes selectively form C sp 3 −C sp 2 bonds instead of C sp 3 −C sp 3 bonds in reductive elimination; (iv) while NHC Pt(IV) complexes undergo a C−C reductive elimination process, the C−C coupling reaction is quite difficult for [PtCl(COMe)Me 2 (N^N)] complexes because of the high energy barrier found for C−C bond formation versus C−Cl oxidative addition; (v) similarly to NHC Pt(IV) complexes, the cycloplatinated (IV) complexes [PtCl(COMe)Me(C^N)(SMe 2 )] readily undergo C−C bond formation with reductive elimination.