The corrosion behavior of Cu and various Cu alloys (Cu-Al, Cu-Al-Ni, Cu-Al-Mn, Cu-Al-Mn-Ni) in 0.5 mol dm -3 NaCl solution was investigated using open circuit potential measurements, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods. The polarization surface damages were verified by scanning electron microscopy, while the elemental composition of corrosion products on the surface of each sample was determined by EDS analysis. It has been found that the alloying element has no significant influence on the copper dissolution mechanism. For all samples, the anodic reaction of Cu dissolution is controlled by the diffusion of soluble CuCl 2 - species from the electrode surface into bulk solution (which results in an apparent anodic Tafel slope of  60 mV/dec), while the cathode reaction is oxygen evolution. The corrosion resistance of the tested samples is a consequence of the surface layer formation whose properties primarily depend on the chemical composition of the based metal, i.e. the type and content of the individual alloying elements in the investigated samples. Alloying elements like Al, Ni, Mn facilitates passivation of the copper, and improve surface film properties (higher resistance and thickness, more compact structure). It has been found that the corrosion resistance of the tested samples growing in the order: Cu  Cu-Al  Cu-Al-Ni  Cu-Al-Mn  Cu-Al-Mn-Ni. Namely, the corrosion current decreases in same order, while the polarization resistance and the compactness and thickness of the surface layer increase. SEM and EDS analysis showed a uniform dissolution of pure Cu while the presence of a surface oxide layer consisting of a mixture of corresponding alloying elements was found on the tested alloys.