Simon's Reagent

[s3nate]

I believe something is wrong my my Simon's reagent. The Simon's A contains lots of flakes in it and when both A+B were used on 'pure mdma' there was no change in color.

Has my Simon's Reagent gone bad?

[RaverHippie]

How long have you owned the reagent?

[s3nate]

Over a year.

[RaverHippie]

"
How long is a kit good for?

Testing kits will eventually go bad. At this point we've heard that they can go bad in as little as six months, though some people have had them stay useful for years when they are stored cold and air-tight. Keeping the testing kit reagent in a well-sealing dark glass bottle, cool or refrigerated may help extend its life."

-Erowid

I noticed Simon's tests for secondary amines... I'm not sure if there are secondary amines in any OTC products for a test to see if the reagent is still good.

[Alfa]

What is simons reagent made of? Some reagents like marquis reagent will go bad after 3 months, if not stored in the fridge.
Edit: simons reagent is sodium nitroprusside 1 g in 50 ml distilled water; add 2 ml acetaldehyde
So this is completely different than marquis reagent, which is 100 ml concentrated sulfuric acid added to 5 ml 40% formaldehyde.

[s3nate]

I believe my Marquis reagent is still perfectly fine.

The reagents are stored in plastic bottles inside a small cardboard box inside of a cupboard.

[radiometer]

Simon's can go bad over time, especially if opened frequently. Supposedly that's the reason that the lab working for ecstasydata.org stopped providing Simon's results. The only way I know how to check it is with a known secondary amine, such as MDMA or methamphetamine. I know of no OTC "calibration" test, but I'd be willing to lay a five on it that there are such chemicals which available without much difficulty, and I'd hope that maybe one of our chemist friends might chime in.

FWIW my buddy Eddie has both Marquis and Simon's reagent, stored tightly capped with anti-dessicant in secondary airtight bottles for about 3-4 years in the fridge, both of which still work as expected. Proper handling and storage can count for something.