Electronic supporting information for the analysis and interpretation of sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectra of thiourea free ligand and its [Zn(TU)4]2+, [Co(TU)4]2+, and [Ni(TU)6]2+ complexes. Sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was employed to experimentally define the nature of coordinative bond between thiourea (TU) or thiocarbamide ligand and Zn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ ions in distorted tetrahedral and octahedral homoleptic coordination environments. Comparisons of XAS spectra of the free TU ligand, [Zn(TU)4]2+, [Co(TU)4]2+, and [Ni(TU)6]2+ complexes clearly identify spectral features emerging from the structural non-innocent TM2+–S(TU) bonding. Quantitative analysis of pre-edge intensities describes the covalency of Ni2+– and Co2+–S(TU) bonding to be at most 23% and 9% as expressed by the S 3p contributions per 3d electron hole. Using relevant Ni2+ complexes with dithiocarbamate and thioether ligands, we evaluated the empirical S 1s→3p transition dipole integrals developed for sulfur ligands and its dependence on heteroatom substitutions. With the aid of density functional theory-based ground electronic state calculations, we found evidence for the need of using a transition dipole that is dependent on the presence of conjugated heteroatom (N) substitution in the S-ligands. Table of Contents: Worksheets "transition dipole" and "spectral modeling summary" contain data for empirical S 1s->3p transition dipole integral estimates and summary of spectral modeling, respectively. RAW_DATA folder: ASCII formatted S K-edge XAS data from BL 4-3 of SSRL, and data obtained for the [Ni(TU)6]2+ complex at the double-crystal monochromator beamline (formerly Canadian Beamline) of Synchrotron Research Center (the home of Aladdin), in Stoughton, Wisconsin. SPECTRAL_MODELS folder Electronic spreadsheets, PeakFit spectral fitting templates, spectra as user-defined functions, quantitative analysis of pre-edge feature intensities XRD_STRUCTURES folder Xmol (XYZ) and DSViewerPro (MSV) files for the analysis of the crystal packing environment of TU complexes. DFT_CALCULATIONS Gaussian09 log files for free thiourea, Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes at BP86/def2TZVP, B3LYP/def2TZVP, and TPSS/def2TZVP levels of theory; frequency calculations for IR vibrational spectral simulations.

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