Top panel: diffuse L_X(gas) vs. SFR, after only correcting for Galactic absorption. The data points are color-coded by merger stage. Merger stages 1 and 2 systems are marked as open green triangles. Merger stages 3, 4, and 5 are shown by open cyan diamonds, and merger stages 6 and 7 are identified by blue open squares. Galaxies containing a Seyfert nucleus are circled in red. Black crosses mark the normal spirals from Mineo et al. (2012). Bottom panel: plot of diffuse L_X(gas) vs. SFR, after correction for internal absorption. Best-fit lines for data points above SFR = 1 M_☉ yr⁻¹ are plotted. Black solid lines are the fits including all of the mergers (slope = 0.87 ± 0.12 top panel, and 0.74 ± 0.09 bottom panel) and dashed magenta lines when the AGNs are omitted (slope = 0.74 ± 0.05 top panel and 1.00 ± 0.10 bottom panel).