A step on the path in the discovery of new latent fingerprint development reagents: substituted Ruhemann's purples and implications for the law.

Energies corresponding to optimum geometries of ninhydrin, some of its analogs, the corresponding Ruhemann's Purple analogs and some of the intermediates of the reaction between ninhydrin analogs and amino acids are calculated at Hartree-Fock/6-31G** level of theory. 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. In examining our new predictions for the net energetics of the reactions in the formation of substituted Ruhemann's Purples, we find that a fluorine-containing analog is the most thermodynamically feasible reaction. In light of this finding, we suggest further experimental studies to determine the kinetic feasibility of synthesizing the fluorine-containing analog, as well as other similar molecules and to determine their spectroscopic properties.