This perspective focuses on the higher oxidation state (III, IV) organometallic chemistry of palladium involving a range of strong oxidants, with consideration of platinum chemistry where it is informative for the evaluation of structure and mechanism. Particular emphasis is placed on hypervalent iodine reagents, halogens and related oxidants of intense current interest in organic synthesis, together with linkages in concepts between this chemistry and recent advances in studies of diaryl disulfides, diaryl diselenides, and diaryl peroxides as oxidants.