Ikonogene - anyone messed with it? :)

Hello friends,

yesterday I did some cleanup in our cabinets with chemistry, so there I found a 2 kg old bottle of Ikonogene - 1-amino-2-naphtol-4-sulfonic acid. Judging by its name, it has something to do with the photography - also I know Kodak once made some developers on its base. In our science, biochemistry, this compound is used as an universal reducing agent (!!) in mixtures with sodium sulfite (!) and potassium metabisulfite (!), so the reducing mix is almost like a developer by itself. I remember myself quantifying the nucleic phosphorus by a molybden blue formation with Ikonogene. Maybe I can use it somehow to develop my poor films, eh? My search in the Internet gave no results - perhaps this developing compound has been forgotten for ages?

Regards from Moscow,
Zhenya

Try searching for "Eikonogen"...

Here's a recipe from Vogel (1904):

A)
100 g sodium sulfite crystals
1500 ml distilled water
8 drops concentrated sulfuric acid
25 g Eikonogen

B)
150 g crystallline sodiun carbonate, OR 100 g potasium carbonate
1000 ml disitlled water

For use mix 3 parts A), 1 part B), add some drops 10% potassium bromide solution.

Another one, from "Teknisk Ukeblad", 1891:


Vand...................................... 100 vægtsdele (Water 100 parts)

Eikonogen................................. 2 - (Eikonogen 2 parts)

Kaliumkarbonat........................ 8 - (potassium carbonate 8 parts)

Natriumsulfit.............................. 4 - (sodium sulfite 4 parts)

My 1937 edition of L P Clerc - Photography Theoty and Practice, lists Eikonogen as a developing agent of once great popularity, after its discovery byMeldova in 1881, however saying it went out of use with the introduction of Metol. Obviously Metol, discovered 10 years later must have had advantages.

Eikogen is: 1-amino-2-hydroxy napathalene-6-sulphonic acid

Incidentally Eikonogen was the first photography-related product from AGFA!

Thanks friends,
I think the Eikonogen was way more expensive to make compared with Metol. It's a naphtalene-related product, so it's more expensive than benzene-derived stuff due to higher price of aromatic-rich oil. Also it takes more synthesis steps - hydroxylation, amination, sulfonation etc. So maybe Eikonogen has some advantages over Metol, but it was discontinued because of its price I will try how it works, maybe it's a disaster, or maybe a candy? The Teknisk Ukeblad should help, I found the full version on a runeberg.org - it's not too difficult to understand given I know some Deutsch

Regards from Russia,
Zhenya