Nature Chemistry, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41557-026-02184-9 There is limited understanding of nickel-catalysed chemistry in nature. Now a bioinformatic pipeline reveals a structurally distinct family of nickel pincer nucleotide-dependent enzymes. Nickel pincer hydride transferase (NphT) was found to catalyse intermolecular hydride transfer by characterizing its crystal structure, conducting structure-guided mutagenesis and measuring its capacity to disproportionate sugars.