Reaction of 5,6-dihydro-5,6-epoxy-1,10-phenanthroline (L) with Ni(ClO(4))(2)·6H(2)O in methanol in 3:1M proportion at room temperature yields [NiL(3)](ClO(4))(2)·2H(2)O. The X-ray crystal structure of the cation NiL(3)(2+) has been determined. Aminolysis of the three epoxide rings in NiL(3)(2+) by 4-substituted anilines in boiling water without any Lewis acid catalyst gives a family of Ni(II) complexes with octahedral NiL(6)(2+) core. In these complexes, crystal field splitting 10Dq varies from 11601 to 15798 cm(-1) in acetonitrile. The variation in 10Dq is found to be satisfactorily linear (r(2)=0.951) with the Hammett σ(R) parameter of the substituent on the anilino fragment. 10Dq increases with the increase in the electron donation ability of the substituent.