It was interesting to find that a new chemiluminescence (CL) reaction was initiated when (main group II) alkaline earth metal ion Mg 2+, Ca²⁺, Ca²⁺ or Ca²⁺ was injected into the reaction mixture of alkaline luminol with potassium permanganate.A possible reaction mechanism was proposed based upon the studies on the CL kinetic characteristics, the UV-visible spectra, the CL spectra and other experiments.The experimental conditions of the CL reactions were optimized and the feasibility of the use of the reaction to the analysis of these alkaline earth metal ions was evaluated.

Key words: alkaline earth metal ion, post-chemiluminescence reaction, chemiluminescence analysis, flow injection