The heteropalladation reactions of unsaturated hydrocarbons are some of the most important routes to generate highly active alkylpalladium(II) and vinylpalladium(II) species. Under appropriate conditions, they can be trapped by some nucleophiles such as allylhalogens, carbon monoxide, unsaturated hydrocarbons, organoboric reagents and organostannic reagents etc. Followed by insertion and/or elimination to produce a variety of bioactive medicines, functional molecules and important building blocks. Recently, much attention has been attracted in the heteropalladation reactions. Here, recent advances in the heteropalladation reactions are reviewed.

Key words: aminopalladation, halopalladation, acetyloxypalladation, oxypalladation, heteropalladation