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A variety of metal nanoparticle (NP)/tetraalkylphosphonium ionic liquid (IL) composite systems were evaluated as potential catalysts for the deep hydrogenation of aromatic molecules. Particles were synthesized by reducing appropriate metal salts by LiBH4 in a variety of ILs. Gold NPs were used as probes to investigate the effect of both chain lengths of the alkyl substituents on the phosphonium cation and the nature of anions, on the stability of NPs dispersed in the ILs. The presence of three medium-to-long alkyl chains (such as hexyl) along with one long alkyl chain (such as tetradecyl) in the IL, coupled with highly coordinating anions (such as halides, or to a smaller extent, bis-triflimides) produced the most stable dispersions. These ILs also showed maximum resistance to heat-induced sintering; for example, TEM studies of Pt NPs heated under hydrogen to 120 °C showed only moderate sintering in trihexyl …