In general, most organic reducing agents [the anti-oxidants
of health-fad fame] will develop film.

As for Tylenol, I have no idea ... the stuff doesn't seem
to go bad in air so it isn't going to be very active as a
developer, if at all.

Snip a bit of film and put it in a glass of water with a few
Tylenol, if the film darkens then it is a developing agent.

The Dignan newsletter published a formula for a developer with
N-Acetyl-Para-Amino-Phenol (acetaminophen)as the developing agent.  I
don't have a copy but my memory is that it had a higher fog level than,
the active element in Rodinal, para-amino phenol.  I last read the
newsletter in question back in the 70s but I think that there was a
discussion of using one of the artificial sweeteners as an anti-fog agent.

Alan,

Here are a pair of recent links to discussion threads on APUG regarding this
general subject.  Seems several experimenters there have achieved some level
of workable results with various formulations, albeit none using *only*
Tylenol AFAIK:

http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21333

http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28723

Having a full-service darkroom equipped for homebrew, I have been tempted to
try it out myself, just for grins...

Ken

I've researched it, but not actually done it. You need a cheap source
of (generic) Tylenol, lye and sodium sulfite. While there is a good chance
that the generic tylenol you buy in Wally World, is made here, it's not cheap
here.

Lye can be bought from a chemical supply or a store that sells supplies
to soap makers. Some brands are pure enough to use for developer, some have
metal shavings or other chemicals in it.

Sodium sulfite was impossible for me to find, you may be able to get
it at a pool supply.

As for using it without the lye and sulfite, none of the sources and the
discussion that followed here when I asked thought that it could be done.

Geoff.

Hi,

I have used acetaminophen(also known as paracetamol) for developing
films and prints. As has been pointed out, the actual method is to
convert actaminophen to p-aminophenol, which is the actual developer.

I posted the results about two years ago.

In rec.photo.darkroom, serach for acetaminophen/paracetamol developer.

The results are similar to what one obtains with Rodinal, which uses
p-aminophenol as the developing agent.

-Sreenath