Novel method for the detection of nitroglycerin in smokeless powders

•Paradimethylaminocinnamaldehyde is presumptively used to differentiate between single-base and double-base smokeless powders.•Nitroglycerin standard is prepared.•Nitroglycerin standard is subjected to presumptive test.•Nitroglycerin standard is subjected to confirmation test, GC–MS.•Paradimethylaminocinnamaldehyde is presumptively used to detect nitroglycerin in double-base smokeless gun powder.

Nitroglycerin is an active component in many explosive substances. Notably, it is found as an active ingredient in double-base smokeless powders, differentiating them from single-base powders, whose main active ingredient is nitrocellulose. It is proposed that the detection of nitroglycerin within various types of ammunition will allow for the differentiation between single and double-base smokeless powders, thus allowing for a method of distinguishing ammunition or bulk powder samples that may be found during the course of a criminal investigation. Presumptive tests are an effective tool in field-testing for forensic science. These tests are used primarily as rapid, sensitive means of elucidating the chemical characteristics of an unknown sample in-situ. In this paper, the authors present a novel method for the detection of nitroglycerin in smokeless powders with the use of a presumptive color test reagent, dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (p-dmac). Twenty-five smokeless powders were tested using this reagent to evaluate the color change that would occur in the presence of nitroglycerin. All presumptive results were confirmed via gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.