The synthesis and characterization of 1-phenyl-3-alkyl-substituted carbene precursors that were prepared from 1-phenyl substituted benzimidazole and various alkyl halides are reported. The new benzimidazolium salts (1a-e) were characterized by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, FT-IR spectroscopic methods and elemental analyses. New in situ generated palladium-benzimidazolium complexes were tested for catalytic activity in the Mizoroki-Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions.