Pyrocat PC Color

I mixed up a big batch of pyro based developers. I decided to mix up Pyrocat HDC, MC, and PC instead of a single large batch. I wanted to compare them to see if there are any differences, and if there's one that I prefer over to the others.

P-aminophenol (the non hcl version) doesn't seem to currently be available anywhere. I searched everywhere until I managed to find a single listing for 100g on ebay. I got it, and it was dark purple crystals. Mixed in to Pyrocat PC, it turns it dark purple/red. Is this a healthy color for it to have? Should I expect it to behave like Rodinal, where the color makes makes no difference to the results?

If anyone knows of source for higher quality p-aminophenol, I'd be interested.

You always have access to Paracetamol - an easy way to get 4-aminophenol

lamerko said:

You always have access to Paracetamol - an easy way to get 4-aminophenol

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I have a strong suspicion that getting the powder is a little harder.

Pyrocat PC turns a rich reddish purple when mixed to working solution. Yours sounds right.

When I was going through my experimental phase I bought p-aminophenol from Merck (Melbourne, Australia). Not much help to you in SF, but I mention it because a specialist chemical supplier might have it, and if they have it, they might sell it to you. Some suppliers don't sell to "garagistes". I made up several versions of Pyrocat (original -HD, -MC, -P). I bought several powder developing agents around the same time, and they were fresh from Germany. The p-aminophenol is the only one which lasted poorly, judging by the colour and consistency, so I threw it out.

The local science shop, which was my go to for photo chemicals either closed or moved. I tried another comparable store, but they only sell chemicals to companies.

After much searching, I found many youtube videos demonstrations of using p-aminophenol to make acetaminophen. The p-aminophenol mostly appears as light pink, and sometimes as dark purple in these videos. One of these videos showed a method for cleaning up p-aminophenol that was super simple. You dissolve p-aminophenol in hot water, and filter out anything that doesn't dissolve. You then cool the water down to near freezing, and filter out the crystals that form.