To study the effect of strong iron-ligands on steel corrosion, mild steel electrodes were immersed in solutions containing 20 mM phosphate buffer (pH = 7.2) and between 0.01 mM and I M of either the iron(II)-chelators 2,2'-bipyridine or FerroZine, or the iron(Ill)-chelators citrate or acetylacetonate. Resulting surface reactions were investigated by quantifying the electrochemical potential (E), the electrochemical polarization resistance (R-p), the corrosion current (I-corr) and the release of iron into solution. The surface was further analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM/SEM-EDAX) and atomic force microscopy. Concentrations of 0.1 mM of any of the chelators led to slight, temporary changes in E, I-corr and R-p. Concentrations of 10 mM resulted in characteristic changes of E, which were the same for all chelators and in the precipitation of FePO4 in the case of citrate and acetylacetonate, or vivianite [Fe-3(PO4)(2) (.) 8H(2)O] in the case of bipyridine and FerroZine. Concentrations of I mM of both iron(III)-chelators led to a temporary drop of E similar to that found with 0.1 mM chelator. With iron(II)-chelators, E dropped to about -500 mV before oscillating for several days. The amplitudes of the oscillations were up to 200 mV with periods of 30 and 20-25 min for bipyridine and FerroZine, respectively.