Amino acid alanine reactivity with the fingerprint reagent ninhydrin. A detailed ab initio computational study

Ninhydrin is one of the most widely used reagents for chemical development of fingerprints on porous surfaces. The detection is based on the reaction of ninhydrin with a monoacidic component of the fingerprint to form an intensively colored compound named Ruhemann's Purple. A computational study of the mechanisms and reaction energetics of the formation of Ruhemann's Purple from ninhydrin and alanine is presented. Such a study is significant from a forensic science point of view because of the strong interest in the forensic chemistry and law enforcement communities in developing alternatives to the current generation of ninhydrin like chemicals for the detection and development of latent fingerprints. Information about the mechanism of reaction between ninhydrin and amino acids can ultimately help to design compounds with stronger chromo-fluorogenic properties in aid of detecting fingerprints at crime scenes. The three most accepted mechanisms of formation have been considered using ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. At relatively high temperature ( approximately 100 degrees C) all three mechanisms are energetically feasible. However since it is recommended that forensic analyses be performed at room temperature, a revised mechanism is proposed for the formation of Ruhemann's Purple under this condition.     

Moistened hands do not necessarily allude to high quality fingerprints: the relationship between palmar moisture and fingerprint donorship

We explored the quality distribution of ninhydrin-developed prints on A4 bond paper in two groups of individuals, in Israel and in India. While the quality distributions of the developed marks in both countries had some dissimilarities, both groups showed the expected bell-shape distribution, with the majority of the donors belonging to the central zone, defined as "average" or "good." Attempt was made to correlate between a physiological feature, palmar moisture, and the fingerprint donorship. As a rule, high fingermark quality could be associated with sweating hands, but there were individuals with moist palms whose fingermarks had a low score and vice versa. This finding supports the logical but hitherto unproven assumption that besides the amount of palmar sweat, the other physiological factor governing the prints' quality is the total amount of substrate, amino acids in this case, in the latent deposits, which depends on the substrate concentration in the sweat.     

茚三酮固体介质法显现不同纸张表面潜指纹

茚三酮是显现渗透性客体上潜在汗液手印的最常用方法之一,采用微量物证提取纸和茚三酮溶液有机结合制作的茚三酮固体介质可以有效避免客体表面背景着色,不容易引起纸张油墨扩散,另外避免使用的溶剂易燃。能够更便捷的显现现场指纹,并且能够突破茚三酮只能显现渗透性客体的局限,拓宽茚三酮显现客体的范围,在热敏纸上潜指纹的显现方面有独特的应用优势。     

Detection of pretreated fingerprint fluorescence using an LED-based excitation system

Abstract:  Optimization of a light emitting diode (LED)-based excitation system for the detection of pretreated fingerprint fluorescence is described. Fluorescent ridges can usually be excited by irradiation with forensic light sources such as xenon arc lamps or quartz-halogen lamps with high-power output and suitable filters. However, they are too expensive for many crime laboratories in smaller organizations. We concentrated on LEDs which have advantages over conventional light sources in that they are simpler and of lower cost, but the power output and quality of each individual LED unit is not sufficient for the detection of weak fluorescent ridges. To resolve this subject, blue and green LED arrays composed of ninety LED units were adopted and suitable low pass filters for them were designed. An experimental system, consisting of blue and green LED arrays with the suitable low pass filters for illumination, high pass filters for viewing, a digital camera and a computer, was tested. The fluorescent images of cyanoacrylate ester fumed/rhodamine 6G stained fingerprint on white polyethylene sheet and weak fluorescent ridges of ninhydrin/indium chloride treated fingerprint on white paper were successfully detected and photographed. It was shown that the improvement of LED beam in intensity and quality can compensate the disadvantages, resulting in well-contrasted images.     

京尼平序列显现手印方法研究

目的考察京尼平溶液显现手印的灵敏度,并探索DFO→京尼平→茚三酮方法联用显现纸张上潜在手印的效果。方法通过使用京尼平溶液对同一手印样本进行一次、两次和三次浸泡处理,考察浸泡次数是否会影响显现效果;通过对京尼平→茚三酮、茚三酮→京尼平,京尼平→DFO和DFO→京尼平方法的组合设计方案与每种方法的单独使用进行比较研究,考察序列显现方法对显出手印的影响。结果单用京尼平溶液对同一样本进行多次浸泡在自然光和荧光模式下都不会明显增强手印的显现效果,DFO方法先于京尼平、京尼平先于茚三酮使用都能起到增强手印纹线的效果。结论京尼平方法显现手印灵敏度较高,DFO→京尼平→茚三酮方法联用可以进一步提高手印的显出率。     

An evaluation of the reagent NBD chloride for the production of luminescent fingerprints on paper: II. A comparison with ninhydrin

The effectiveness of the fluorogenic reagent NBD chloride has been compared with the popular colour reagent ninhydrin for the development of fingerprints on paper. NBD chloride was found to be more sensitive than ninhydrin for moderately old fingerprints (3–9 months) and never inferior to ninhydrin in all other cases. A qualitative evaluation technique was used to establish the relative efficiency of each method. This is based on the number of points of identification, assessed on a 1–4 scale, where 4 represents a courtworthy print (> 12 points) and 1 represents a print containing no identification points.     

Development of Latent Fingermarks from Rocks and Stones

Since the beginning of recorded history, stones have been used in the commission of crimes due to their widespread availability. Stones can be used as a lethal weapon that sometimes might be the only evidence in a serious case. The common perception, even in professional fingermark circles, is that stones do not yield identifiable latent fingermarks. The authors of this research paper examined the feasibility of developing fingermarks from seven types of stones using three latent fingermark techniques: magnetic powder, cyanoacrylate fuming, and ninhydrin. The paper will demonstrate that by classifying stones and rocks according to their natural properties (porosity, permeability, and the nature of surface area), even application of the simplest development techniques can produce good results. In conclusion, chert and limestone yielded the most qualitative and quantitative results using magnetic powder. The time factor is also important in recovering latent fingermarks on stones and rocks.     

The application of infrared chemical imaging to the detection and enhancement of latent fingerprints: method optimization and further findings

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) chemical imaging allows the collection of fingerprint images from backgrounds that have traditionally posed problems for conventional fingerprint detection methods. In this work, the suitability of this technique for the imaging of fingerprints on a wider range of difficult surfaces (including polymer banknotes, various types of paper, and aluminum drink cans) has been tested. For each new surface, a systematic methodology was employed to optimize settings such as spectral resolution, number of scans, and pixel aggregation in order to reduce collection time and file-size without compromising spatial resolution and the quality of the final fingerprint image. The imaging of cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints on polymer banknotes has been improved, with shorter collection times for larger image areas. One-month-old fingerprints on polymer banknotes have been successfully fumed and imaged. It was also found that FTIR chemical imaging gives high quality images of cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints on aluminum drink cans, regardless of the printed background. Although visible and UV light sources do not yield fingerprint images of the same quality on difficult, nonporous backgrounds, in many cases they can be used to locate a fingerprint prior to higher quality imaging by the FTIR technique. Attempts to acquire FTIR images of fingerprints on paper-based porous surfaces that had been treated with established reagents such as ninhydrin were all unsuccessful due to the swamping effect of the cellulose constituents of the paper.     

防止茚三酮溶液扩散纸张字迹的研究

目的 解决茚三酮溶液在显现手印同时对纸张上字迹产生扩散作的问题;方法 分别采用茚三酮丙酮溶液,茚三酮氟利昂溶液,茚三酮石油谜溶液,茚三酮庚烷溶液作比较。结果 钢笔字迹用4种溶液均不易扩散;纸张上其它成份字迹用后两种方法显现手印时可有效保存纸张上文字原貌。     

京尼平与茚三酮显现手印方法的比较研究

目的对京尼平与茚三酮两种手印显现方法进行综合评价。方法用两种方法显现不同遗留客体上不同遗留时间的手印,并对显现效果、显出手印的稳定性及纸张字迹油墨扩散等现象进行考察。结果京尼平与茚三酮有着相似的的显现原理、适用范围和熏显条件,但在显现效果、显出手印稳定性、试剂成本和安全性能方面存在差异。结论京尼平相比茚三酮方法更安全、绿色环保、显出的手印稳定性更强。