A while ago, we introduced a new class of positively-charged pincer ligands based on sulfonium cations, including ligand L1 (Scheme 2a), which provided the first example of an aromatic sulfonium cation coordinated to transition metals (Rh(I) and Pt(II)). Computational analysis of these complexes proved the sulfonium centers in these ligands to be highly π-acidic. Yet, L1 was not suitable for the use as an ancillary ligand in π-acid catalysis due to the excessive flexibility of its backbone, which resulted in a hemilabile behaviour and an easy dissociation of the metal-sulfonium bond.