The reduction of vinyl and aryl triflates 1, in the presence of stoichiometric amounts of benzoic acid and catalytic amounts of PdCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 results in the formation of the corresponding alkenes and arenes 2. Most probably, the reaction proceeds via a catalytic cycle initiated by the one-step two-electron reduction of the palladium complex followed by oxidative addition of unsaturated triflates to the low-ligated zerovalent palladium complex Pd 0 (PPh 3 ) 2 Cl - . The resultant σ-vinyl and σ-arylpalladium(II) intermediate undergoes a one-step two-electron reduction to afford 2 in moderate to good yield, regenerating the low-ligated zerovalent palladium complex.