In this work, seven inorganic salts, KCl, Na
2SO
4, MgSO
4-7H
2O, ZnCl
2, Na
2CrO
4, CuSO
4-5H
2O, and K
3[Fe(CN)
6], were used as catalysts to induce chemiluminescent luminol oxidation in alkaline aqueous media. It was observed that simple salts containing either Mg
2+, Zn
2+, Na
+ and K
+ cations or SO
42– and Cl
– anions, are not active as catalysts. On the other hand, the relative order of activity detected for the active chemiluminescent salts containing Fe(III), Cu(II) and Cr(VI) cations is K
3[Fe(CN)
6] <>
4-5H
2O <>
2CrO
4. The intensity of the emitted light agrees with the standard reduction potentials of the corresponding redox couple and with the presence of paramagnetic species in the aqueous solutions. The inhibition effect of mannitol was also studied.