The surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a highly surface sensitive technique to study inter-surface properties of biological, organic, and inorganic materials. It is a precise technique to determine the adsorption geometry/orientation of the molecules as the intensity enhancement of the SERS bands depends on the adsorption geometry/orientation of molecules on SERS substrate. In the present work, Ni, Cu and Zn complexes of (Z)-N'(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl) acetimidate were synthesized and adsorbed on ZnO nanoparticles. The surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), UV-vis and DFT techniques were applied to investigate the possible adsorption geometries of the complexes on ZnO. Consequently, it was found that the orientation of all three complex molecules is flat-on onto the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. The fluorescence background of Raman spectra of Zn complex is quenched and its geometry is isomerized after the adsorption onto the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. The adsorbed Cu complex on ZnO NPs absorbed UV radiations efficiently. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.