ABSTRACT
Chemical Development of Latent Fingerprints .......................................... 178 Ninhydrin: The Universal Reagent for Fingerprints on Paper .................. 179
History and General Properties of Ninhydrin..................................... 179 Reaction with Amino Acids................................................................... 181 Ninhydrin as a Latent Fingerprint Reagent ......................................... 182
Formulation Variations................................................................... 184 The Influence of Temperature and Humidity: Modes of Application ..................................................................... 186 Secondary Treatment with Metal Salts: Fingerprint Detection Aided by Lasers and Alternate Light Sources................................ 189
Ninhydrin Analogues.................................................................................... 191 Structural Modifications: Benzo[
f
]ninhydrin and Related Compounds ............................................................................................ 191 1,8-Diazafluorene-9-one (DFO) ........................................................... 196 1,2-Indanedione ..................................................................................... 198
References ...................................................................................................... 200
Despite the wide variety of reagents for chemical development of latent fingerprints on paper, many of which have been reported and investigated over the past decade, none has been found with sufficient advantages to supplant ninhydrin.
