Fluorescamine is a spiro compound that is not fluorescent itself, but reacts with primary amines to form highly fluorescent products, i.e. it is fluorogenic. It hence has been used as a reagent for the detection of amines and peptides.[2] 1-100 μg of protein and down to 10 pg of protein can be detected.[3][4] Once bound to protein the excitation wavelength is 381 nm (near ultraviolet) and the emission wavelength is 470 nm (blue).[5] This method is found to suffer from high blanks resulting from a high rate of hydrolysis due to requiring a large excess concentration.[6] Alternative methods are based on ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA), Ellman's reagent (DTNB), or epicocconone.
