The discovery, recent developments and prospects of the carbeniophosphines, and in particular of imidazoliophosphines, are related. The P-conjugated positive charge brought by the stabilized carbenium center gives stable (Im⁺)R₂P → metal dative bonds, while the ligands themselves contain a relatively stable C → P⁺R₂ dative bond, making imidazoliophosphines, more accurately described as NHC–phosphenium adducts. The preparation methods, structural features, electronic and coordination properties, reactivity, and catalytic properties of carbeniophosphines are reviewed.

Copper–phosphido-borane complexes were synthesized and isolated for the first time. Their structures were experimentally and computationally investigated. They were shown to display catalytic activity in C_sp–P bond formation.

Plasmonic catalysis enables the realization of reactions using solar light with less energy and time consumption. Pd nanoflowers synthesized by a radiolytic reduction of Pd^II(acac)₂ in ethanol under a CO atmosphere exhibit a broad plasmon band in the visible–near infrared domain. These plasmonic nanostructures showed remarkably enhanced the photocatalytic activity for Suzuki–Miyaura reactions under visible light irradiation.