# Recent Contributions of Organic Synthesis to Forensic Science

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how organic chemistry helps forensic science by improving drug analysis, toxicology, and fingerprint detection.

## Contribution

The paper highlights recent synthetic methodologies bridging organic chemistry and forensic science for practical applications.

## Key findings

- Organic synthesis aids in drug identification and reference standard production.
- New methods improve fingerprint detection and biological fluid visualization.
- Synthetic approaches enhance understanding of drug metabolism in toxicology.

## Abstract

Forensic science is a multidisciplinary field that plays a vital role in society by supporting criminal investigations and providing scientific evidence for judicial proceedings. Within this context, organic chemistry contributes fundamentally by enabling the structural elucidation of seized drugs and their intermediates, the synthesis of analytical reference standards for doping control, allied with a deeper understanding of drug metabolization, and the development of probes for detecting fingerprints and biological fluids. This review examines recent advances at the interface between organic synthesis and forensic science. The discussion is organized into three main application areas: drug identification, toxicology, and fingerprint analysis, highlighting how synthetic methodologies have been employed to address key challenges in each topic. Furthermore, this work aims to shed light on the broad range of opportunities for the organic synthesis community to contribute to the advancement of forensic science.

Forensic science is a multidisciplinary field that plays a vital role in providing scientific evidence for criminal investigations. This review highlights advances and opportunities at the interface between organic synthesis and forensic science, with applications in drug identification, forensic toxicology, and latent fingerprint detection and visualization.© 2026 WILEY‐VCH GmbH