Highly sensitive chemiluminescence of water-soluble luminol and its application in forensic bloodstain detection

Chemiluminescence (CL) provides outstanding analytical performance due to its background-free nature and exceptional sensitivity and selectivity. The forensic luminol chemiluminescence test is one of the most commonly used methods for detecting latent bloodstains. However, its applications are limited by the insolubility of luminol under physiological conditions. In this study, <i>m</i>-carboxy luminol with its hydrophilic design was found to overcome these limitations and showed a chemiluminescence intensity higher than that displayed by any other luminol-based CL assay. The superior CL performance of <i>m</i>-carboxy luminol encouraged us to further apply this derivative for imaging bloodstains, with the results implying excellent application prospects for <i>m</i>-carboxy-luminol-containing imaging solutions in criminal investigations.