Preparation of cyanoacrylate derivatives and comparison of dual action cyanoacrylate formulations.
The use of cyanoacrylate followed by fluorescent reagents is well known in the field of fingermark visualisation. Treatment with fluorescent reagents that stain the cyanoacrylate deposits will not only enhance the visibility of fingermarks previously thought unusable, but also reveal previously unseen marks. Downside of this approach is the exposure of the evidential material to large amounts of solvent, such as water, methanol and ethanol, thereby potentially destroying other forensic traces. New cyanoacrylate derivates with fluorescent and UV-active properties can be used for one step dual action visualisation of latent fingermarks. Increased optical properties can be achieved by addition of functional groups via the Steglich esterification of cyanoacetic acid with N-(3-dimetylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide (EDC). The UV-active ester can be created via the Knoevenagel condensation with formaldehyde to form poly-cyanoacrylate. These poly-cyanoacrylates can be depolymerised to form monomer cyanoacrylates. In this paper we compare these ethylcyanoacrylate derivatives with commercially available cyanoacrylate formulations. We have shown that the use of poly-cyanoacrylate derivatives can yield fully developed fingerprints. The initiator of the polymerisation reaction towards novel reagents can be altered according to the need for particular optical properties.
Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Netherlands.
Gino
G
Groeneveld
Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sander
S
Kuijer
Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.de.puit@nfi.minvenj.nl.
Marcel
M
de Puit
D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry; D003487:Cyanoacrylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D003619:Dansyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D003878:Dermatoglyphics; D004951:Esterification; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
D000085:Acetates; D003487:Cyanoacrylates; D003619:Dansyl Compounds; C029038:dansyl chloride; C007170:cyanoacetic acid
Cyanoacrylate; Dual action; Fingerprints; Fluorescence