Five Ni II macrocyclic complexes are studied as water proton shift agents and as paraCEST agents (paraCEST = paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer) for MRI applications. The five macrocycles have amide and/or alcohol pendent groups with either tetraaza-or triazamacrocycles including 1,1′,1′′-(1,4,7-triazonane-1,4,7-triyl)tris(propan-2-ol) (L1), 1,1′,1′′,1′′′-(1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetra)tetrakis(propan-2-ol) (L2), 1,1′,1′′, 1′′′-(1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-1,4,8,11-tetrayl)tetrakis(propan-2-ol) (L3), 2,2′,2′′-(1,4,7triazonane-1,4,7-triyl)triacetamide (L4), or 2,2′-(7-benzyl-1,4,7triazonane-1,4-diyl) diacetamide (L5). Solution magnetic moments are consistent with paramagnetic Ni II complexes. The complexes are characterized by pH-potentiometric titrations to