Cu K-, Cu L-, and S K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) data have been combinedwith density functional theory (DFT) calculations on [{(TMPA)Cu}
2S
2](ClO
4)
2 (
1), [{Cu[HB(3,5-Pr
i2pz)
3]}
2(S
2)] (
2), and [{(TMEDA)Cu}
2(S
2)
2](OTf)
2 (
3) to obtain a quantitative description of their ground statewavefunctions. The Cu L-edge intensities give 63 and 37% Cu d-character in the ground state of
1 and
2,respectively, whereas the S K-pre-edge intensities reflect 20 and 48% S character in their ground states,respetively. These data indicate a more than 2-fold increase in the total disulfide bonding character in
2relative to
1. The increase in the number of Cu-S bonds in
2 (
-
2:
2 S
22- bridge) compared to
1((
-
1:
1 S
22- bridge) dominantly determines the large increase in covalency and Cu-disulfide bond strengthin
2. Cu K- and L- and S K-pre-edge energy positions directly demonstrate the Cu
II/(S
2-)
2 nature of
3. Thetwo disulfide(
1-)'s in
3 undergo strong bonding interactions that destabilize the resultant filled antibonding
* orbitals of the (S
2-)
2 fragment relative to the Cu 3d levels. This leads to an inverted bonding scheme in
3 with dominantly ligand-based holes in its ground state, consistent with its description as a dicopper(II)-bis-disulfide(
1-) complex.