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A series of nickel bis(chelate) complexes having square planar coordination are studied for light-driven and electrocatalytic hydrogen production from water. The complexes Ni(abt)₂ (abt = 2-aminobenzenethiolate), Ni(mp)₂ (mp = 2-mercaptophenolate) and Ni(mpo)₂ (mpo = 2-mercaptopyridyl-N-oxide) are found to be active catalysts under light-driven conditions, using fluorescein (Fl) as the photosensitizer (PS) and triethanolamine (TEOA) as the sacrificial electron donor in water under basic pH (pH = 9.8). These molecular systems achieve a turnover number (TON) of ∼6000 (relative to catalyst) and are stable for more than 100 h under H₂-generating conditions. When water-soluble CdSe quantum dots with tripodal S-donor capping agents are employed as PS and ascorbic acid (AA) is used as the sacrificial electron donor at pH 4.5, an active and robust system is obtained for the light-driven generation of H₂ from …