An important component of the slurries used in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is an appropriately chosen corrosion/dissolution inhibitor, which facilitates selective material removal from protrusions while protecting recessed regions of the surface. The present work demonstrates the utility of two environmentally benign anionic surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ammonium dodecyl sulfate (ADS) as dissolution inhibitors. Using a standard slurry (1 wt% glycine with 5 wt% H2O2 at pH = 4.0) typically used for Cu CMP and combining measurements of open circuit potentials and contact angles with those of Cu removal rates, we show that both SDS and ADS suppress chemical dissolution and polish rates of Cu. The dissolution inhibition efficiencies of ADS and SDS measured in these experiments are found to be superior to those of benzotriazole (BTA), a traditional inhibiting agent used for copper CMP.