Progress in comprehending the effect of anions on the kinetics and mechanis
m of anodic dissolution of metals is analyzed over the period from the disc
overy of this phenomenon by Academician Yakov Kolotyrkin till nowadays. It
is shown that new spectroscopic data on water adsorption at freshly formed
iron and nickel surface open a novel approach to the mechanism of anodic di
ssolution of hydrophilic metals and allows eliminating a number of confusio
ns accumulated in the literature.