CMD begins with a high valent, late transition metal like Pd that may or may not be bound to a carboxylate anion. The computed transition state involves concerted partial formation of a carbon–metal bond and partial protonation of the carboxylate. At the same time, any anionic metal–carboxylate bond begins to break, as does the carbon–hydrogen bond that is being activated. Compared to other possible processes such as oxidative addition of the C–H bond to the metal, CMD is lower in energy in many cases. A transition state in which the carboxylate is bound to the metal can be referred to as either CMD or AMLA, which stands for "ambiphilic metal–ligand assistance," but the latter emphasizes that the carboxylate acts as a ligand during the transition state.