Magnesium Chloride

Magnesium chloride is the name for the chemical compounds with the formulas MgCl2 and its various hydrates MgCl2(H2O)x. These salts are typical ionic halides, being highly soluble in water. The hydrated magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water. Magnesium chloride as the natural mineral bischofite is also extracted (solution mining) out of ancient seabeds, for example the Zechstein seabed in NW Europe or the Permian Period seabed in the central parts of the US. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is the principal precursor to magnesium metal, which is produced on a large scale.

Magnesium chloride is used for a variety of other applications besides the production of magnesium: the manufacture of textiles, paper, fireproofing agents, cements and refrigeration brine,and dust and erosion control. Mixed with hydrated magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride forms a hard material called Sorel cement.

Magnesium ion Mg2+ (usually added as the chloride) is an important component in the polymerase chain reaction, a procedure used to amplify DNA fragments. It is generally used in experimental biology whenever RNA and DNA and their enzymes are to function in vitro, since Mg2+ is a necessary associate ion for nucleotides in biology, such as ATP.

Magnesium chloride is also used in several medical and topical (skin related) applications. It has been used in pills as supplemental sources of magnesium, where it serves as a soluble compound which is not as laxitive as magnesium sulfate, and more bioavailable than magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide, since it does not require stomach acid to produce soluble Mg2+ ion. It can also be used as an effective anaesthetic for cephalopods, some species of crustaceans,and several species of bivalve, including oysters