N-mesityl-N′-pyridyl-imidazolium chloride 1a and the corresponding bromide salt 1b have been deprotonated with NaH in THF giving the free N-heterocyclic carbene N-mesityl-N′-pyridyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene 2 in 80% yield (starting from 1a). Imidazolium salt 1a reacts with RuCl 3 ·xH 2 O to give a racemic mixture of dinuclear di-μ-chloro bridged ruthenium complexes [(κ 2 -2) 2 Ru(μ-Cl) 2 Ru(κ 2 -2) 2 ] 2+ [3a] 2+ . The carbene carbon atoms as well as the halides are arranged in cis-positions to each other whereas the nitrogen atoms adopt a trans-configuration. The di-μ-bromo bridged derivative [(κ 2 -2) 2 Ru(μ-Br) 2 Ru(κ 2 -2) 2 ] 2+ [3b] 2+ was obtained from RuCl 3 ·xH 2 O and 1b. The bridging halide ligands can be removed by the reaction with silver or sodium salts of bidentate Lewis acids. Complex [3a] 2+ reacts with silver pyridylcarboxylate to give a racemic mixture of the mononuclear complex [4] + . Reaction of [3a] 2+ with the sodium salt of l-proline resulted in a diastereomeric mixture of complexes [5] + . The free N-heterocyclic carbene 2 reacts with [FeCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 ] to give after anion exchange with NaBPh 4 cis/cis/trans coordinated [Fe(κ 2 -2) 2 (MeCN) 2 ](BPh 4 ) 2 [6](BPh 4 ) 2 . The molecular structures of [3b](PF 6 ) 2 , [4]PF 6 and [6](BPh 4 ) 2 ·H 2 O are reported.