Organic Dye-Based Powder for the Visualization of the Latent Fingerprints and Cyanide Detection

Abstract

We report the multistep synthesis of small molecule based yellow color powder (VT1) consisting of thiourea and ─NO₂ groups for the detection of CN⁻ in a 10% HEPES buffer–CH₃CN solution and for the visualization of the latent fingerprints (LFPs) in daylight using powder dusting method. The minimum limit of detection for CN⁻ ion is 1.47 × 10⁻⁷ M. We demonstrated the suitability of VT1 powder for the development and visualization of the LFPs on porous, nonporous surfaces to obtain information of levels 1–3 and for airlifting of developed fingerprints using adhesive scotch-tape. VT1 is nontoxic and biocompatible with HeLa cells (IC₅₀ = 48.77).