A water-soluble palladium (II) complex containing an unsymmetrical Schiff-base ligand was synthesized and applied as catalyst Suzuki–Miyaura and Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions in aqueous media.Notably, moderate to excellent yields of biaryls were obtained in Suzuki reaction with usually less reactive aryland heteroaryl chlorides under relatively mild condition. Moderate-to-high yields of aryl-alkynes were also obtained in Sonogashira reactions using aryl bromides. Apart from hydrophilic nature, the accomplishment of reactions in water, high recyclability, broad functional group tolerance, etc., are other advantages of the system.