Catechol storage - any advantage to the freezer?

[Steve Goldstein]

My Amidol, Glycin, and Phenidone live in the freezer to extend their shelf lives. Each is sealed in a bottle and placed in a zip-seal bag, and I pull out whichever one I want a day before I need it so it can come up to room temperature before I open it. Perhaps storing Phenidone in the freezer is overkill, but it's a small bottle.

I just purchased 250gm of Catechol (= pyrocatechin) to use for home-mixed Pyrocat-HD; it was the minimum size available from Artcraft. This will make 10 batches of 1-liter of stock, with each liter of stock good for 100 liters of developer. In other words, it's probably going to take years for me to use this 250gm supply. I haven't been able to find any information on Catechol's shelf life. I suspect that freezer storage is unlikely to harm it, but does it confer any advantage?

 

[dpurdy]

I can only tell you that I keep those chems in my freezer as well and I have nearly a pound of Catechol in mine. I don't know if it helps but I know it doesn't seem to hurt.

 

[Harry Stevens]

There was a discussion about using D76 and ID-II 5 litre packs and how to make smaller portions and it was mentioned that freezing chemicals was really not good for them. I am no chemist so I don't know if this is a correct statement or not.

 

[destroya]

my catechol is 4 years old and i keep it in the freezer. I have had no bad effects from it. I last mixed a batch of pyro-hdc 3 months ago and it is perfect. the color of the catechol has not changed. my friends has changed and his is less than 2 years old and he keeps his, or kept it at room temp. had to toss it as it lost its effectiveness.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

My 1kg package of Catechol is turning 9 years old. It's kept sealed in a plastic bag, which is kept in a plastic container. The container is kept in a cool, dark cupboard. I feel no need to freeze it.

 

[John Wiegerink]

My 1kg package of Catechol is turning 9 years old. It's kept sealed in a plastic bag, which is kept in a plastic container. The container is kept in a cool, dark cupboard. I feel no need to freeze it.

+1

 

[Gerald C Koch]

NO

I have catechol that is decades old and is unchanged stored at room temperature. But good to ask as developing agents can be quite different from one another.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

Thank you Gerald. I was hoping you or one of the other chemists on APUG would respond to my question.