The electronic and steric properties of a new class of electron-rich and sterically hindered tertamethylated PNP pincer ligands (Me 4 PNP R = 2,6-bis[(dialkylphosphino)propyl]pyridine with R = i Pr, t Bu) are discussed. Introducing the methyl groups on the pincer arm prevents dearomatization of the pincer framework and increases the bulkiness and electron-donating capacity of the ligand. Highly reactive Ni I species are thus prevented from dimerizing and can be analyzed by a wide variety of spectroscopic methods. X-ray diffraction study shows that steric bulk has an important influence on the resulting geometric and spectroscopic properties of the Ni I complexes. Complexes 5 and 6, which contain i Pr groups on the phosphorus atoms, show a very rare seesaw geometry around the metal center, while t Bu complexes 7 and 8 show a distorted square-planar geometry. Computational analysis reveals that the SOMO for all complexes has a d x 2 −y 2 character with the spin density mostly residing on the nickel.