How to pronounce“ninhydrin”in English

Specifically, ninhydrin detects the amines present in the amino acids and proteins left behind by our fingerprints.

Then, the ninhydrin is dehydrated, and we form an imine!

This is actually an imine-forming reaction that occurs on the keto form of ninhydrin!

The next few steps of this mechanism are beyond the scope of this episode, but basically, another molecule of ninhydrin reacts, and the two molecules link up through the nitrogen atom.