In this paper, a new innoxious and pollution-free chemical protective coating for magnesium alloys, phytic acid conversion coating, was prepared. The conversion coatings are found to have high cover ratio and no cracks are found by atomic force microscopes (AFM) and scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM). The main elements of the conversion coatings are Mg, Al, O, P and C by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The chemical state of the elements in the coatings was also investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). AES depth pro. le analysis suggests that the thickness of the conversion coating is about 340 nm. The corrosion resistance of the coatings was evaluated by polarization curves. The results indicate that the corrosion resistance for the conversion coated AZ91D magnesium alloys in 3.5% NaCl solution increases markedly. The mechanisms of corrosion resistance and coatings formation are also discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.