Abstract

A liquid membrane electrode has been made which is selective for ethidium ion. The membrane is formed in a capillary by a 3-nitro-o-xylene solution of an ethidium-tetraphenyl borate complex. The electrode emf (vs saturated KCl-calomel reference) has a linear dependence upon the logarithm of ethidium concentration from 2 μM to 0.5 mM. The electrode is used here to measure free ethidium ion in mixtures with calf thymus DNA. The binding isotherms obtained are in general agreement with a control photometric titration and with literature results. Direct measurement of free ethidium concentration by convenient potentiometric methods is useful in the study of ligand binding to nucleic acids and to related compounds.

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