Is it still good? A civet cat I know has some that has been stored for about 8 years in the original amber botle. It is still bright white in color, but most of it is hard and stuck together.

Is it still good as a reducing agent? The cat hopes to break it up with an ice pick or something into powder.

Thanks in advance for any help,
MM

I think as Java already stated its a flammable solid so take a small sample and attempt to ignite it, if it fails to combust write it off and dispose of it properly.


Not to nit pick but we also have a short question thread for these sort of topics just as a heads up.

Sodium borohydride: Spontaneous ignition can result from solution of sodium borohydride in dimethylformamide. NaBH4 can be recrystallized by dissolving in warm (50 °C) diglyme followed by cooling the solution.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_borohydride

Dissolve in dimethylformamide and expose some on a watch glass. If spontaneous ignition occurs, then ok.

this hardening is usually due to presence of moisture and degradation to sodium borate. yet even if it has hardened to a solid mass, it usually only degrades a bit, which is enough for it to change appearance. however, usually, this is still good enough for reductions.
a good way to test for activity is to dissolve in some alcohol, and look for hydrogen bubbles. also you can drip in acid to see if it gives an even more vigorous hydrogen release. an even better way to test for activity is to try out a reduction reaction which is known to work with proper nabh4. if it works well, you are good.
you can easily do a micro-mol reaction and follow progress with TLC