I'm trying to figure out a murder mystery assignment for my biology class and in the scenario we're given a clear liquid is thrown on someone. I'm trying to find the chemical and the only thing making 2,4-dinitrophenol not perfect is I don't know if it can be a clear liquid.
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$\begingroup$ To clarify I'm more referring to a solution. $\endgroup$ – zach Mar 10 '14 at 21:23
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According to Wikipedia : "2,4-Dinitrophenol is a yellow, crystalline solid that has a sweet, musty odor. "
I found a picture of some 2,4 dinitrophenol :
And of a few solutions containing the compound (in different concentrations):
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A clear solution is OK, a colorless solution won't obtain. 2,4-DNP is very good at yellow staining. Being a potent oxidative phosphorylation uncoupler, ingestion then death by hyperhthermia, presenting an anomalously high versus time since death liver temperature.
SF6847, from BHT food preservative in two steps, will colorlessly get you to the same place. It hydrolyzes in a few hours, rendering the corpse safe for consumption by scavengers. Phenylsilatrane (especialy 4-chlorophenylsilatrane) from triethanolamine (Neutrogena soap).
Elegantly, trace contamination with N-isoamylacetamide then proximity to a yellow jacket wasp nest (Industrial Chemist 8(12)16 (1987)).
