Described are new derivatives of the type [HNiFe(SR)2(diphosphine)(CO)3]+, which feature a Ni(diphosphine) group linked to a Fe(CO)3 group via two bridging thiolate ligands. Previous work had described [HNiFe(pdt)(dppe)(CO)3]+ ([1H]+) and its activity as a catalyst for the reduction of protons. Work described in this paper focused on the effects of the diphosphine attached to nickel as well as the dithiolate bridge, 1,3-propanedithiolate (pdt) vs 1,2-ethanedithiolate (edt). A new synthetic route to these Ni-Fe dithiolates is described, involving reaction of Ni(SR)2(diphosphine) with FeI2(CO)4 followed by in situ reduction with cobaltocene. Evidence is presented that this route proceeds via metastable μ-iodo derivatives. Attempted isolation of such species led to the crystallization of NiFe(Me2pdt)(dppe)I2, which features tetrahedral Fe(II) and square planar Ni(II) centers (Me2pdt = 2,2-dimethylpropanedithiol). The new tricarbonyls prepared in this work are NiFe(pdt)(dcpe)(CO)3 (2, dcpe = 1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane), NiFe(edt)(dppe)(CO)3 (3), and NiFe(edt)(dcpe)(CO)3 (4). Attempted preparation of a phenylthiolate-bridged complex via the FeI2(CO)4 + Ni(SPh)2(dppe) route gave the tetrametallic species [(CO)2Fe(SPh)2Ni(CO)]2(μ-dppe)2. Crystallographic analysis of the edt-dcpe compund [2H]BF4 and the edt-dppe compound [3H]BF4 verified their close resemblance. Each features pseudo-octahedral Fe and square pyramidal Ni centers. Starting from [4H]BF4 we prepared the PPh3 derivative [HNiFe(edt)(dppe)(PPh3)(CO)2]BF4 ([5H]BF4), which was obtained as a ~2:1 mixture of unsymmetrical and symmetrical isomers. Acid-base measurements indicate that changing from Ni(dppe) to Ni(dcpe) decreases the acidity of the cationic hydride complexes by 2.5 pKaMeCN units, from ~11 to ~13.5 (previous work showed that substitution at Fe leads to more dramatic effects). The redox potentials are more strongly affected by the change from dppe to dcpe, for example the [2]0/+ couple occurs at E1/2 = −820 for [2]0/+ vs −574 mV (vs Fc+/0) for [1]0/+. Changes in the dithiolate do not affect the acidity or the reduction potentials of the hydrides. The acid-independent rate of reduction of CH2ClCO2H by [2H]+ is ca. 50 s−1 (25 °C), twice that of [1H]+. The edt-dppe complex [2H]+ proved to be the most active catalyst, with an acid-independent rate of 300 s−1.