Objective 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) was synthesized with maleic acid as raw material, to study the corrosion inhibition performance of DMSA on copper in 0. 5 mol/ L NaOH solution. Methods DMSA was prepared by methods of addition, elimination, addition and hydrolysis with maleic acid as raw material, the structure of which was then characterized by Fourier infrared spectroscopy (IR) and mass spectrometry (MS). The corrosion rates of copper in 0. 5 mol/ L NaOH supplemented with different concentrations of DMSA were investigated by static weight loss tests, the corrosion inhibition performance was investigated by polarization curves and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. Copper surface corrosion morphology was observed by scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM). Results IR and mass spectrometry jointly confirmed that the target product was DMSA. The corrosion rates of Cu in 0. 5 mol / L NaOH were 7. 60, 3. 25, 2. 13 μg / ( cm2 ·h) with supplementation of 0, 2. 5, 5. 0 g / L DMSA, respectively. When the DMSA concentration in NaOH solution was 5. 0 g / L, the inhibition efficiency reached 94. 92% . Conclusion DMSA could absorb on the copper surface, decrease water erosion and increase the corrosion product film resistance and the charge transfer resistance. DMSA was an anodic inhibitor.