Photoluminescence and optical properties of as-anodized and heat-treated at 500°C porous alumina films formed in a 0.3M oxalic acid at 40V have been studied. The FTIR indicates that the oxalate ions are embedded in the anodic alumina as chelating bidentate structures and further heating up to 500°C does not cause any change in ion coordination. The results of time-resolved spectroscopy show the presence of two luminescence centers both in the as-anodized and heat-treated anodic alumina films with lifetimes of about 0.25 and 4.0ns. The F + -centers in anodic alumina are responsible for the luminescence peak at about 420nm, with a lifetime of about 4.0ns. The luminescence peak at about 480nm, with lifetime of about 0.25ns, can be attributed to the luminescence of carboxylate ions existing in bulk of anodic alumina.