The restrictions imposed by the processes of diffusion, evaporation, and coating substrate reactions on the choice of potential protective coating materials for tungsten were studied analytically and experimentally. The diffusive restriction is the most limiting and eliminates many refractory oxides with otherwise satisfactory attributes. The diffusive properties of rare earth sesquioxides and complex refractory oxides were explored by means of oxidation experiments and a layer growth experiment respectively. Mass spectrometric studies of the vaporization of refractory complex oxides were carried out to determine the applicability of the Wagner-Hauffe method of predicting vaporization rates. Provided certain thermodynamic approximations are valid and the vapor species over the complex oxide are the same as those over the pure component oxides, the predictions yield order of magnitude accuracy. A survey and exploration of reactions of possible coating materials with tungsten was performed emphasizing promising materials from the diffusion studies. (Author).