Fluorescamine is a compound that is not fluorescent itself but reacts with primary amines to form highly fluorescent products. Because fluorescamine can specifically target the surface amines on proteins, a conformational change of the protein will result in a change in fluorescence. The fluorescent products have an excitation maximum at 390 nm and an emission maximum at 475 nm. These properties make fluorescamine ideal for detecting amino groups, especially in proteins, peptides, and amino acids. It is 10 to 100 times more sensitive in detecting primary amino groups than the ninhydrin reaction. Fluorescamine is also employed as a reporter group in protein chemistry and immunology.