The tribochemical behaviors of dioctylphosphite ester and ditetradecylphosphite ester together with their corresponding combinations with alkyl amines were studied. The results of tribological evaluations showed that the phosphite ester with long alkyl chain exhibited better antiwear performance but worse extreme pressure property than that of the phosphite ester with short alkyl chain. The combinations showed better antiwear performance but worse extreme pressure property than their corresponding phosphite esters. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to investigate the worn surface morphology and the content as well as the distribution of active elements. It can be found that the prorupt edges of worn surface are enriched with phosphoric-oxygenic compounds and less phosphoric-oxygenic compounds were detected in the valley. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy was employed to explore the chemical nature of the worn surface. The results show that a tribofilm composed of phosphates and polyphosphates is formed on the worn surface. Furthermore, the tribofilm is generated even in a rubbing of 10 s and is formed completely after 10 min rubbing. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.