How To Buy Potassium Hydroquinone Monosulfate

Hi All,

I'm having some difficulty buying some potassium hydroquinone monosulfate. Does anyone know of any sources for this chemical? As an additional consideration, I'm located in Canada so this may impact who can provide me with this chemical.

Thanks in advance!

Either the Potassium or Sodium salt would do.

The Formulary stocked it, but it was in low demand. It may no longer be in the catalog.

PE

No luck with Fomulary. However, thank you for the suggestion.

Try www.kyantek.com. If they don't have it, try contacting their information site and see if they can order it.

PE

JD Photo chem?

No luck yet. The Kyantek site doesn't appear to work. JD Photochem doesn't supply this chemical. I didn't see it on the Artcraft site.

Sorry, I misspelled. Try this: http://kyantec.com/

They do not list it AFAIK, but will do special orders.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

Sorry, I misspelled. Try this: http://kyantec.com/

They do not list it AFAIK, but will do special orders.

PE

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Thanks again. I'll give them a call.

Photo Engineer said:

Sorry, I misspelled. Try this: http://kyantec.com/

They do not list it AFAIK, but will do special orders.

PE

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Ooops. Double post.

Well, I've had no luck in finding this chemical. Photographer's Formulary has a Potassium Hydroquinone Sulfonate in their catalog, which I believe may be same chemical. However, they are out of stock.

Is it possible to synthesize potassium hydroquinone monosulfate by combining hydroquinone with potassium sulfite? Alternatively, it is possible to make a sodium hydroquinone monosulfate by combining hydroquinone and sodium sulfite?

HQ and sodium or potassium sulfite will make what you want with the addition of the right amount of oxidant. You should read up on the synthesis in a good text though. I don't have the information here.

As I noted earlier, Kyanted has special ordered a number of chemicals for me, as has the Formulary. You just need to ask. Kyantec does not list Erythrosine, but I buy it there. They special order it for me.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

HQ and sodium or potassium sulfite will make what you want with the addition of the right amount of oxidant. You should read up on the synthesis in a good text though. I don't have the information here.

As I noted earlier, Kyanted has special ordered a number of chemicals for me, as has the Formulary. You just need to ask. Kyantec does not list Erythrosine, but I buy it there. They special order it for me.

PE

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Hi PE,

I spoke with a representative Kyantec earlier on today and they're looking into finding this chemical for me. BTW, do you know of any good texts on the above synthesis? I've had no luck on the internet. Thanks again for your help.

Weissberger "Organic Synthesis" or the Merck index may give references. College libraries will carry references to articles. It isn't hard to find. Nor is it hard to make. Every developer contains some.....

The only thing you have to watch for is the solution turning green. In this case you are forming quinhydrone which is no good. It used to be used to make green ink.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

Weissberger "Organic Synthesis" or the Merck index may give references. College libraries will carry references to articles. It isn't hard to find. Nor is it hard to make. Every developer contains some.....

The only thing you have to watch for is the solution turning green. In this case you are forming quinhydrone which is no good. It used to be used to make green ink.

PE

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Thanks for information PE. Either way, I win. I either get the photo chemistry I want or green ink to use in my fountain pen.

May I ask what you are trying to do?

PE

Photo Engineer said:

May I ask what you are trying to do?

PE

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Certainly, PE. I should have brought it up in the beginning of the thread. It was my intention to experiment with a DIY E-6 formula. I understand that hydroquinone monosulphate is what should be used in the first developer but I currently have only hydroquinone. I also understand that home brew E-6 formulations are not accurate. Consequently, I run the risk of long term image stability, loss of image quality and grain.

The formula that I'm using is as follows:

FIRST DEVELOPER

Distilled Water...............................750ml
Sodium Sulphite, (anhy)..................28.0g
Potassium Carbonate, (anhy)...........14.0g
Sodium Bicarbonate........................12.0g
Phenidone.....................................0.5g
Hydroquinone Monosulfate................6.0g
Sodium Bromide..............................2.6g
Sodium Thiocyanate........................1.0 g
Sodium Hydroxide............................2.5g
Potassium Iodide, 0.1% solution.........4.5ml
Distilled water to make.....................1,000ml

STOP BATH 1

Water...........................................750ml
Sodium Acetate, (anhy)...................30.0g
Acetic acid, (glacial).......................6.0ml
Water to make...............................1,000ml

COLOUR DEVELOPER

Distilled water................................750ml
Trisodium Phosphate, crystals...........36.0g
Sodium Hydroxide...........................1.9g
Sodium Sulphite, (anhy)...................5.5g
Sodium Bromide..............................0.55g
Potassium Iodide, 0.1% solution........37.5ml
Sodium Thiocyanate........................1.0g
Citrazinic Acid.................................0.6g
Kodak CD-3....................................10.5g
Distilled water to make.....................1,000ml

STOP BATH 2

Water...........................................750ml
Sodium Acetate, (anhy)...................30.0g
Acetic acid, (glacial).......................6.0ml
Water to make...............................1,000ml

BLEACH

Water...........................................750ml
Potassium Ferricyanide.....................80.0g
Potassium Bromide...........................20.0g
Disodium Phosphate, (anhy)..............12.0g
Acetic Acid, (glacial)........................5.0ml
Water to make................................1,000ml

FIXER

Water............................................750ml
Sodium Thiosulphate, (crystals)..........200.0g
Sodium Sulphite, (anhy)....................5.0g
Sodium Metabisulphite.......................0.5g
Water to make.................................1,000ml

STABILIZER (OPTIONAL)

Water............................................750ml
Formaldehyde, 40%..........................5.0ml
Wetting Agent.................................1.0ml
Water to make................................1,000ml

This formula was posted by a APUGer not too long ago and is a variant of the Watkins formulation. I thought I would play around with it and see what results I would get. The Canadian winter is coming and I need some indoor stuff to occupy my time with. Once again, thank you for all the help that you provided.

I suspected as much.

Good formula, but DTOD is a bit better than thiocyanate. If you can get it that is.

Also, the stop before the bleach (ferricyanide) better have sulfite or you may get a high dmin. The sulfite scavenges color developer before bleaching.

PE

I presume DTOD is Dithethyloctane Diol? I couldn't find any around but I'll look around. What would be an appropriate amount of DTOD? As for the fix before the bleach, would 10g/l of sodium sulfite be sufficient? Thanks again.

Kodak has published on its web site, several formulas with DTOD instead of thiocyanate. The VNF process is one that comes to mind (IIRC). I would say 1 g is enough.

As for the sulfite, about 10 g/l should work. It reacts with excess CD3 to form the sulfonate (ahahahahaha) to prevent stain from forming.

Sulfite is everywhere in photography. Like cow patties in a pasture, right?

PE

This is great help. Once again, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Now, if only I can get that sulfonate from stop bath and bleach mixture.

I took another look at your formula. I think that the HQMS is too low. You might want to look at other formulas. I think you are using the HQ level instead of the HQMS. If so, it won't work right. IIRC the ration was about 10:1 HQMS to HQ. Something like that. Maybe it was 5:1.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

I took another look at your formula. I think that the HQMS is too low. You might want to look at other formulas. I think you are using the HQ level instead of the HQMS. If so, it won't work right. IIRC the ration was about 10:1 HQMS to HQ. Something like that. Maybe it was 5:1.

PE

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D'oh, you're absolutely right. The HQMS should be in the 20g to 25g range, maybe more. I'll play around with it a little. Thanks for catching that for me.

This could be a long shot, but there is a wonderful Pharmacy/lab supply here in Milwaukee and the guy has never failed to procure a chemical for me. He got me DTPA when I was trying to homebrew Xtol (it works fine but now I am hooked on Tmax 400 in Pyrocat MC). The company is Laabs and you must ask for Brian. Tell him it is photo stuff, he was a B&W photographer and tell him I referred you. Phone 414 342 0145, ask for Brian in Chemicals...Evan Clarke

High snapshot !!

Ahh, that formulation looks familiar... ,I,ve posted a very similar one a few weeks ago,
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

And right, Hydroquinonemonosulphate has to be increased to 22- 24 g/Ltr. Watch out for the Phenidone, the 0,5g ammount I gave are only a approach. It schould be Dimezone-S in the region of about 1,4 g/Ltr. For the reason of the higher activity from normal Phenidone (A) a dose of 0,8g/ltr should be nearly equal. I've decided for 0,5 g/Ltr Phenidone because of the (desired) lowered gradiation...

Maybe you can call JD Photochemicals in Longeuil. Although Hydrochinonmonosulfate is not listed in her store Dead Link Removed
Mrs. Vrana is a VERY helpful person, maby she can get what you need. On top of this she do have nice prices, I've got a pound CD-4 from her last year and including shipping it from Canada to Germany it was cheaper than here...

Regards,
Stefan

eclarke said:

This could be a long shot, but there is a wonderful Pharmacy/lab supply here in Milwaukee and the guy has never failed to procure a chemical for me. He got me DTPA when I was trying to homebrew Xtol (it works fine but now I am hooked on Tmax 400 in Pyrocat MC). The company is Laabs and you must ask for Brian. Tell him it is photo stuff, he was a B&W photographer and tell him I referred you. Phone 414 342 0145, ask for Brian in Chemicals...Evan Clarke

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Thanks Evan, I'll give him a call.