A novel reaction of ninhydrin with chlorotrialkylsilane leading to ninhydrin dimers, and their X-ray structural analysis

The reaction of ninhydrin with chlorotrialkylsilane gave a silylated ninhydrin dimer accompanied with bis(trialkylsilyloxy) derivatives; the dimeric structure was established by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The dimer is soluble in a nonpolar solvent and easily reproduces ninhydrin under mild conditions; thus it can be used as an equivalent molecule of ninhydrin for utilization as a detecting reagent.