Ninhydrin

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.