flyingbanana - 6-4-2006 at 17:29
quick question, does nitromethane degrade into anything dangerous over time? there is a bottle of ~30% nitro racing fuel that needs to be distilled,
but it is just over a year old. new, so it hasn't been opened yet.
msds doesn't say anything but just want to make sure
there is also a bottle that HAS been opened, ~3 years old but i'm thinking of just throwing that out.
chemoleo - 6-4-2006 at 18:09
I wouldn't see why as long as you don't get base/alkali into it. 1 year isn't really old at all.
How about 99.5 % nitromethane? I suppose the same argument holds there...
praseodym - 6-4-2006 at 18:22
Well, it depends on how and where did you store your nitromethane. But with proper storage and without contamination, both the 1-year-old and
3-year-old nitromethane are still considered as useful chemicals. The only difference between your nitromethane and a new bottle of nitromethane may
only be that yours may look darker since nitromethane darkens on storage. Hence i advise against dumping any of them away. Don't waste chemicals 
chemoleo - 6-4-2006 at 18:52
What is the cause of the darkening? Does it happen with pure NM too?
MSDS:
Stability:
Shock and heat sensitive. Thermally unstable. Reacts violently with a broad range of materials. Contact with organic bases (amines), acids ???
why would that be???, and some metal oxides such as lead pigments, may markedly increase its sensitivity to detonation by shock. Heating of
closed containers may cause detonation. Mixtures of nitromethane and known sensitizers are explosive and should be handled with extreme caution.
Incompatibilities:
Amines, acids, bases, oxidizing materials, metal oxides, aluminum chloride plus organic matter, hexamethylbenzene, hydrocarbons, calcium hypochlorite,
potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide. Slowly corrodes steel and copper when wet. Nitromethane in the presence of water can react
with organic bases to form salts which are explosive when dry.
[Edited on 7-4-2006 by chemoleo]
praseodym - 6-4-2006 at 19:09
I believe it is due to the reactivity of nitromethane but not so sure about the actual mechanisms behind the darkening of nitromethane on storage.
Page 4 of the msds data sheet here also claims that nitromethane may darken on storage but gives no explanation about how and why it happens.
Sandmeyer - 6-4-2006 at 19:38
It should be no problems, I've got nitromethane which is over 2 years old, it has got a hint of yellow over the time, but it works as good as new and
that's all I care about. 
But why do source the methanol/nitro, nitromethane is available OTC. Every well-equipped store for model cars should stock it pure, if not you can ask
them to order it for you.
lacrima97 - 11-4-2006 at 09:50
Is there a danger of an explosion when distilling nitromethane? I believe I need to do this since the nitromethane that I have doesn't seem pure. It
burns slowly, when in my mind it should deflagerate rapidly. So is distillation very dangerous?
ordenblitz - 11-4-2006 at 13:08
Nitromethane does not deflagrate rapidly. It burns, at room temperature and pressure, in a calm gentle manner very similar to alcohol except that the
flame is an odd luminous white where alcohol is more blue/white.
[Edited on 11-4-2006 by ordenblitz]
jack-sparrow - 12-4-2006 at 10:18
Distilling nitromethane at atmospheric pressure can yield to decomposition. It can be hazardous if there are other chemicals mixed with it (in this
case, your 30% fuel mix). Check the ebook Purification of laboratory chemicals by Perrin and Amarego for more details.
woelen - 12-4-2006 at 12:32
Nitromethane turning yellow over time? I have 1 liter of 99.9% CH3NO2 and this is around 1 year old. If I look through 20 cm of this liquid, it still
is completely colorless, not the faintest yellow coloration.
Probably the yellow coloration is due to some common impurity, which is not present in my 99.9% nitromethane.
Btw, I purchased my nitromethane as a fuel enhancer. The tin has a label on it, stating it is 99.9% nitromethane. I needed some time to find the
source of the chemical. So, it should be possible for you as well to obtain it at high purity but some searching and asking around on a national
chemistry forum may be needed.
Nitromethane
MadHatter - 12-4-2006 at 18:31
Bought mine from a racing fuel distributor who sells it for Top Fuel dragsters and funny cars.
Expensive - $40 gallon + hazmat fee + shipping.
http://www.worldwideracingfuels.com
out of New Canton, Virginia.
ordenblitz - 13-4-2006 at 16:12
WWR fuels requires a lengthy form be filled out on the user and the end use before completing the sale.
Misanthropy - 31-5-2006 at 20:05
(please forgive my ignorace, chem noob.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitromethane
Could it be that a 0.1% contam could bind to that single bonded oxygen, pulling some of them together? Or a polymerization?