A series of six cis‐dioxomolybdenum(VI) complexes with thiosemicarbazone ligands was synthesized and characterized. The ligands were obtained by reacting ethyl thiosemicarbazide with salicylaldehydes substituted with a selection of electron‐withdrawing and electron‐donating groups. The crystal structures, IR, NMR spectroscopic data and oxygen atom transfer activities of the complexes revealed that the electronic effects of the substituents located in the para‐position of the phenolate donor are transmitted through to the molybdenum center, as reflected by linear relationships between Hammett constants and key properties of the complexes, including the molybdenum–phenolate bond lengths and the coordination shift of the imine proton resonance. Compared with the unsubstituted catalyst, electron‐withdrawing substituents increase the rate of oxygen atom transfer from dimethyl sulfoxide to triphenylphosphine, whereas electron‐donating groups have the opposite effect. The highest rate enhancement was achieved through the introduction of a strongly electron‐withdrawing NO2 substituent in the p‐position of the phenolate donor.