3. Inhibitor classes

3.1 Organic inhibitors

There are many organic compounds that can be used as inhibitors. From a "mother" molecule with a certain efficacy, it is always possible to synthesize increasingly complex compounds with the aim of either improving inhibitory efficacy or certain physical properties (solubility in aqueous or non-aqueous media, wetting power, boiling temperature, etc.), or making analysis of the inhibitor formulation more difficult. Furthermore, the marketing of a product depends largely on its cost price: preference is given to by-products from the oil industry.

As we have already seen, organic compounds capable of acting as corrosion inhibitors normally contain an active center capable of exchanging electrons with the metal: N, O, S, P.