AbstractThe chemiluminescent reaction of an acridinium ester (AE) requires addition of peroxide to the 9 position of the acridinium ring. The addition of a hydroxide ion to the 9 position of an acridinium ester to form the carbinol adduct has also been well documented. We have observed a similar addition of other nucleophiles to the acridinium ring to form an acridan adduct. The adduct formed with bisulphite has been particularly well‐characterized for rate of formation, rate of reversion, and reaction equilibrium. The formation of an adduct (other than H2O2) has been demonstrated to decrease significantly the reactivity of the adjacent ester bond to alkaline hydrolysis. The resulting, more stable adduct is very useful when the acridinium ester is used as a label in DNA probe‐based assays. The adduct is highly resistant to hydrolysis under the conditions often desired for DNA probe‐based assays (high temperature, elevated pH, extended sto