Wiktionary
n. (context organic compound English) The aromatic compound ''2,2-dihydroxyindane-1,3-dione'' which is used as a reagent to detect amines
Wikipedia
Ninhydrin (2,2-dihydroxyindane-1,3-dione) is a chemical used to detect ammonia or primary and secondary amines. When reacting with these free amines, a deep blue or purple color known as Ruhemann's purple is produced. Ninhydrin is most commonly used to detect fingerprints, as the terminal amines of lysine residues in peptides and proteins sloughed off in fingerprints react with ninhydrin. It is a white solid which is soluble in ethanol and acetone at room temperature. Ninhydrin can be considered as the hydrate of indane-1,2,3-trione.
Usage examples of "ninhydrin".
We accelerated the reaction on the ninhydrin test with heat and humidification and ran it under the ultraviolet.
She is careful not to steam the piece of tape, which is nonporous and will not react to ninhydrin, and the heat will melt the adhesive and any possible ridge detail on it.
But in doing so, he runs the risk of ruining any possibility of fuming prints with superglue or looking for them with an alternate light source and luminescent powders or processing them with chemicals such as ninhydrin or diazafluoren.