We study the effects of higher-order chemical reaction and heat generation on coupled heat and mass transfer by MHD mixed convection from a permeable radiating inclined plate with the thermal convective boundary condition. The governing boundary layer equations are formulated and transformed into a set of similarity equations using dimensionless similarity variables developed by Lie group analysis. The resulting equations are then solved numerically using Maple 13 which uses a fourth–fifth order Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg algorithm for solving nonlinear boundary value problems. A representative set of numerical results are displayed graphically and discussed to show some interesting aspects of the parameters: convective heat transfer (γ), the angle of inclination (α), generation order of chemical reaction (n), reaction rate (λ), the Prandtl number (Pr), and the Schmidt number (Sc) on the dimensionless axial velocity, the temperature, and the concentration profiles. Also effects of pertinent parameters on the skin friction factor, the rate of heat, and the rate of mass transfer are obtained and displayed in tabular form. Good agreement is found between the numerical results of the present paper with the earlier published works under some special cases. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res