Bridged and unbridged N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands are metalated with [Ir/Rh (COD) 2Cl] 2 to give rhodium (I/III) and iridium (I) mono-and biscarbene substituted complexes. All complexes were characterized by spectroscopy, in addition [Ir (COD)(NHC) 2][Cl, I][COD= 1, 5-cyclooctadiene, NHC= 1, 3-dimethyl-or 1, 3-dicyclohexylimidazolin-2- ylidene](1, 4), and the biscarbene chelate complexes 12 [(η4-1, 5-cyclooctadiene)(1, 1′- ...