Inhibiting effect of two novel non-toxic thiadiazole derivatives on copper were investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution using weight loss and electrochemical measurements. Presence of inhibitors and increase of concentration greatly decrease corrosion rate, parameters determined from polarization curves and EIS plots show that inhibitors decrease both cathodic and anodic current densities, suppressing charge transfer process by adsorption on copper surface. Thermodynamic calculation indicates chemisorption obeys Langmuir isotherm. Surface layers were characterized by SEM coupled with EDX. Raman micro-spectroscopy reveals that inhibitor molecules suppress copper corrosion via formation of thiadiazole–Cu complex. Relationships between inhibition efficiency and molecular orbital were also evaluated.