Analysis of amino acid enantiomers from aged fingerprints

Journal article (2020)

Authors

W. van Helmond Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI), Hogeschool van Amsterdam, OLD ChemE/Organic Materials and Interfaces
Maarten Weening Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI)
Vonne Vleer Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI)
M. de Puit Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI), ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter - AS
Research Group
ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter (AS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2020 W. van Helmond, Maarten Weening, Vonne Vleer, M. de Puit
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ay00096e
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Published Date

2020

Language

English

Faculty

Applied Sciences

Department

ChemE/Chemical Engineering

Research Group

ChemE/Advanced Soft Matter

Abstract

Fingerprints found at a crime scene can be key in criminal investigations. A method to accurately determine the age of the fingerprint, potentially crucial to linking the fingerprint to the crime, is not available at the moment. In this paper, we show that the use of the enantiomeric ratio of d/l-serine in fingerprints could pose as interesting target for age estimation techniques. We developed a UPLC-MS/MS method to determine the enantiomer ratios of histidine, serine, threonine, alanine, proline, methionine and valine from fingerprint residue. We found a significant change only in the relative ratio of d-serine with increasing fingerprint age after analysis of fingerprints up to 6 months old.