Glycine derivative corrosion inhibitor（Gy-D），a imidazole zwitterionic compound，was synthesized using glycine， glyoxal and formaldehyde. The structure of Gy-D was characterized by infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy，and the inhibition effect of Gy-D on N80 steel in 1 mol/L hydrochloric acid at 25 ℃ was studied by weight loss method and electrochemical method. The results indicated that the adsorption behavior of the amphoteric corrosion inhibitor Gy-D conformed to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm，with a combination of both physical and chemical adsorption occurring on the steel surface. As the dosage of Gy-d increased，its corrosion inhibition efficiency improved accordingly. Specifically，at the concentration of 50 mg/L，the efficiency was 91.29% ，and it furtherly increased to 93.92% at 200 mg/L. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and atomic force microscopy （AFM） results revealed that the inhibitor smoothed the steel surface and diminished corrosion pits. Additionally，X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）analysis confirmed that the Fe-N bond was formed on the surface of N80 steel after immersion in hydrochloric acid containing Gy-D，suggesting the presence of an adsorbed protective film on the metal. The amino acid corrosion inhibitor synthesized in this paper provides an effective strategy for corrosion protection of steel under high acid environment.