Aldehydes substituted with a quaternised pyridinium or quinolinium ring have been investigated for the development of latent fingerprints. Two routes were developed to a novel in situ formed azacyanine dye. This dye might form in the fingerprint where reagents are concentrated but does not form appreciably in solution experiments as evidenced by the lack of an absorption band at 600 nm. N-Alkyl and N-aryl substituted benzimidazole-2-carboxaldehydes give stable fluorescent fingerprints.

Phthalocyanines solubilised by either 8 or 16 aryloxy or haloaryloxy groups are described. A series of phthalocyanine derivatives were prepared containing indium. 1,2-Dinitriles and the corresponding diiminoisoindolines were used as precursors. A naphthalocyanine metallated with indium and solubilised with four tert-butyl groups is reported.

Crystallisation of flexible bipyridyl ligands with MnCl2·4H2O and KSCN gives co-ordination polymers of composition [Mn(NCS)2(H2O)2(Py2C2H4)](Py2C2H4)2(H2O)2 (1) (Py2C2H4=1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane), [Mn2(NCS)4(Py2C3H6)4]n (2) (Py2C3H6=1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane) and [Mn(NCS)2(CH3CH2OH)2(Py2C6H12)]n (3) (Py2C6H12=1,6-bis(4-pyridyl)hexane). The structures were solved by single crystal structure determinations.

Crystallisation of benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylic acid or benzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid with divalent metal-ions Co, Mn or Zn and 2,2-bipyridyl gives coordination solids of composition [Co2(C10H2O8)(C10H8N2)2(H2O)] (1), [Co3(C9H3O6)2(C10H8N2)2(H2O)2] (2), [Mn3(C9H3O6)2(C10H8N2)2(H2O)2] (3) or [Zn3(C9H3O6)2(C10H8N2)2(H2O)2] (4). Each has a sheet structure with a distorted octahedral coordination environment.

Four coordination networks of composition [CuL2(H2O)(NO3)]·NO3·H2O (1) [CdL2(H2O)(NO3)]·NO3·H2O (2) (L=N,N′-bis(4-pyridylmethyl)urea), [CuL2(NO3)2]·2H2O·2EtOH (3) (L=N,N′-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)urea) and [CdL2(H2O)2]·2NO3 (4) (L=N,N′-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)urea) have been prepared. Structures 1, 2 and 4 consist of looped chains, structure 3 consists of a two-dimensional network.Four coordination networks of composition [CuL2(H2O)(NO3)]·NO3·H2O (1) [CdL2(H2O)(NO3)]·NO3·H2O (2) (L=N,N′-bis(4-pyridylmethyl)urea), [CuL2(NO3)2]·2H2O·2EtOH (3) and [CdL2(H2O)2]·2NO3 (4) (L=N,N′-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)urea) have been prepared. Structures 1, 2 and 4 consist of looped chains, structure 3 consists of a two-dimensional network.

Crystallisation of flexible dipyridyl ligands with Cd(NO3)2·6H2O or CdSO4·6H2O gives co-ordination networks of composition [Cd(NO3)2(Py2CH2)2] 1 [Py2CH2 = 1,1-bis(4-pyridyl)methane]; [Cd2(NO3)4(Py2C3H6)4(H2O)] 2 [Py2C3H6 = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane]; [Cd2(SO4)2(Py2C3H6)3(H2O)2.7]·4.5H2O 3; [Cd(NO3)2(Py2C4H8)(H2O)2] 4 [Py2C4H8 = 1,4-bis(4-pyridyl)butane]; [Cd2(NO3)4(Py2C5H10)3(H2O)] 5 [Py2C5H10 = 1,5-bis(4-pyridyl)pentane] and [Cd(NO3)2(Py2C6H12)2] 6 [Py2C6H12 = 1,6-bis(4-pyridyl)hexane]. The compounds were characterised by X-ray single crystal diffraction studies. In compounds 1, 2, 4 and 6 the cadmium ions are hexa-co-ordinate with a slightly distorted octahedral geometry. Compounds 3 and 5 both display examples of a less common hepta-co-ordinate cadmium ion geometry. Compounds 2, 3 and 6 exhibit novel modes of interpenetration.

Aldehydes substituted with a quaternised pyridinium or quinolinium ring have been investigated for the development of latent fingerprints. Two routes were developed to a novel in situ formed azacyanine dye. This dye might form in the fingerprint where reagents are concentrated but does not form appreciably in solution experiments as evidenced by the lack of an absorption band at 600 nm. N-Alkyl and N-aryl substituted benzimidazole-2-carboxaldehydes give stable fluorescent fingerprints.