Nickel­(II) complexes with 15-membered (1–5) and 14-membered (6) octaazamacrocyclic ligands derived from 1,2- and 1,3-diketones and S-methylisothiocarbohydrazide were prepared by template synthesis. The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, IR, UV–vis, 1H NMR spectroscopies, and X-ray diffraction. The complexes contain a low-spin nickel­(II) ion in a square-planar coordination environment. The electrochemical behavior of 1–6 was investigated in detail, and the electronic structure of 1e-oxidized and 1e-reduced species was studied by electron paramagnetic resonance, UV–vis–near-IR spectroelectrochemistry, and density functional theory calculations indicating redox noninnocent behavior of the ligands. Compounds 1–6 were tested in the microwave-assisted solvent-free oxidation of cyclohexane by tert-butyl hydroperoxide to produce the industrially significant mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone (i.e., A/K oil). The results showed that the catalytic activity was affected by several factors, namely, reaction time and temperature or amount and type of catalyst. The best values for A/K oil yield (23%, turnover number of 1.1 × 102) were obtained with compound 6 after 2 h of microwave irradiation at 100 °C.

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