Reaction of a group of N-(aryl)picolinamides (pic-R) with [Ru(PPh₃)₂(CO)₂Cl₂] in refluxing 2-methoxyethanol in the presence of a base affords hydrido complexes of two types (1-R and 2-R), which are geometric isomers. Similar reaction with N-(naphthyl)picolinamide (pic-nap) yields an organoruthenium complex (3) via formation of a hydrido intermediate. Reaction of 2-(arylazo)phenols (ap-R) with [Ir(PPh₃)₃Cl] in refluxing ethanol affords a mono-hydrido intermediate (4-R), a di-hydrido intermediate (5-R) and an organoiridium complex (6-R) as the final product, where the azo-ligand is coordinated as CNO-donor. Reaction of ap-R ligands with [Rh(PPh₃)₃Cl] yields organorhodium complexes (7-R) analogous to 6-R, but without any hydrido intermediate. N-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzaldimines (hpbz-R) react with [Rh(PPh₃)₃Cl] to yield a group of organorhodium complexes (8-R), where the hpbz-R ligands are coordinated in CNO-fashion. Upon interaction with [Ir(PPh₃)₃Cl] 2-(2',6'-dimethylphenylazo)-4-methylphenol (dmap) undergoes a methyl C-H activation and affords organoiridium complex 9, while 2-(2'-methylphenylazo)-4-methylphenol (mmap) undergoes a phenyl C-H activation and gives organoiridium complex 10. Reaction of benzaldehyde thiosemicarbazones (bztsc-R) with [Pd(PPh₃)₂Cl₂], carried out with the expectation of inducing CNS-mode of coordination, actually has yielded complexes (11-R) where the bztsc-R is coordinated in an uncommon NS-mode forming a fivemembered chelate ring associated with a restricted rotation around the imine (C=N) bond. These palladium complexes are found to catalyse C-C cross coupling reactions very efficiently. Crystal structures of selected complexes of each type have been determined by X-ray crystallography.

Reaction of pyrrole-2-aldehyde thiosemicarbazone (abbreviated as H₂L, where H₂ stands for the two potentially dissociable protons) with [Pd(PPh3)2Cl2] in ethanol in the presence of NEt3 afforded two complexes, [Pd(PPh₃)(HL_NS)Cl] and [Pd(PPh3)(LNNS)], where the thiosemicarbazone ligand is coordinated to the metal centre respectively as monoanionic N,S-donor (depicted by HL_NS) and dianionic N,N,S-donor (depicted by L_NNS). Similar reaction with Na2[PdCl4] afforded a bis-complex, [Pd(HL_NS)₂]. Crystal structures of all the three complexes have been determined.With reference to the structure of the uncoordinated thiosemicarbazone (H₂L), the N,S-coordinationmode observed in [Pd(PPh₃)(HL_NS)Cl] and [Pd(HL_NS)₂] is associated with a geometrical change around the imine bond.While the N,N,S-mode of binding observed in [Pd(PPh₃)(L_NNS)] takes place without any such geometrical change. All three complexes display intense absorptions in the visible and ultraviolet regions, which have been analyzed by TDDFT method.