Palladium nanoparticles stabilized by choline-based ionic liquids in glycerol were prepared from Pd(II) precursors by simply heating at 80 degrees C under argon; in this process, the water present in the ionic liquid was found to be responsible for the reduction of Pd(II) into zero-valent palladium species. Palladium nanoparticles were fully characterized in both liquid phase and solid state. The as-prepared metal nanoparticles exhibited remarkable catalytic activity in hydrogenation processes for a significant variety of functional groups (alkenes, alkynes, nitro derivatives, benzaldehydes, aromatic ketones).