A halide is attached to a complex containing this (*) metal through oxidative addition in the first step of the Stille reaction.
It's not silicon, but this element's acetate catalyzes the conversion of aryl bromides into aryl-tri-methyl- silanes. An unusual dimer of this element may form as an undesirable intermediate in the Buchwald-Hartwig reaction. In another reaction, the presence of this element and a base catalyzes the creation of a saturated alkene from an aryl or vinyl halide and an alkene. A halide is attached to a complex containing this (*) metal through oxidative addition in the first step of the Stille reaction. This metal catalyzes the coupling of a boronic acid and an organohalide in the Suzuki reaction. That reaction's namesake, Heck, and Negishi all shared the 2010 Nobel prize for discovering a type of cross-coupling reaction catalyzed by this metal. For 10 points, name this platinum-group metal found in Lindlar's catalyst. 
It's not silicon, but this element's acetate catalyzes the conversion of aryl bromides into aryl-tri-methyl- silanes.
palladium [accept Pd] 