Herein, we report the synthesis of palladium complexes bearing an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-sulfonamide bidentate ligand and their application in ethylene oligomerization and ethylene/polar monomer cooligomerization. These catalysts could smoothly catalyze ethylene oligomerization and ethylene/methyl acrylate cooligomerization albeit the performance was lower compared to that of a NHC-phenoxide catalyst. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 474-477