Novel magnesium ion-selective microelectrodes based on a neutral carrier.

Two types of Mg(2+)-selective microelectrodes based on a synthetic neutral carrier and containing poly-(vinyl chloride) (PVC) are described. The first is applicable to intracellular Mg2+ assays and suffers no interference from alkali and all other alkaline-earth metal cations. The second can be used for determining intra- as well as extracellular Mg2+ activities, but Ca2+ and especially lipophilic cations (e.g. acetylcholine) may interfere. Cyclohexanone is used for dissolving the PVC-containing membrane phases thus avoiding problems encountered with the much more volatile tetrahydrofuran. The procedure gives a higher output of working microelectrodes and can also be applied with other membrane phases.