1,8-Diazafluoren-9-one (DFO) is an

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

ketone first synthesized in 1950. It is used to find

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

s on porous surfaces. It makes fingerprints glow when they are lit by blue-green light. DFO reacts with

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

s present in the fingerprint to form highly

fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...

derivatives. Excitation with light at ~470 nm results in emission at ~570 nm.

References

External links

RCMP report on 1,8-diazafluoren-9-one
Ketones Forensic chemicals Nitrogen heterocycles Heterocyclic compounds with 3 rings {{forensics-stub