Various palladium catalysts were obtained by the immobilisation of palladium on silica, modified with imidazolium salts. The efficiency of the catalysts was greatly dependent on the choice of the anion of the imidazolium salt, the palladium precursor and on the conditions of heterogenisation. Palladium acetate immobilised on silica with grafted imidazolium chloride moieties was shown to be a selective and recyclable catalyst for atmospheric aminocarbonylation of aryl iodides with aromatic amines in DMF. It was proved that the greater loss of palladium in DMSO can be explained by the formation of soluble palladium complexes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.