Metal sulfides, known as being analogous to metal oxides, have emerged as a new class of materials for energy conversion and/or storage applications due to their low cost and high electrochemical activity.

The perovskite family is comprised of a great number of members because of the possible and flexible substitution of numerous ions in its system.

Late transition metal complexes that bear N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands have seen a speedy growth in their use as both, metal-based drug candidates and potentially active homogeneous catalysts in a plethora of C–C and C–N bond forming reactions. This review article focuses on the recent developments and advances in preparation and characterization of NHC–metal complexes (metal: silver, gold, copper, palladium, nickel and ruthenium) and their biomedical applications. Their design, syntheses and characterization have been reviewed and correlated to their antimicrobial and anticancer efficacies. All these initial discoveries help validate the great potential of NHC–metal derivatives as a class of effective antimicrobial and anticancer agents.