The orange to deep-red and highly hygroscopic anhydrous acid can be obtained by low-pressure sublimation of the dihydrate.

[6] Rhodizonic acid was discovered by Austrian chemist Johann Heller in 1837, by analyzing the products of heating a mixture of potassium carbonate and charcoal.

[11] Sodium rhodizonate is dark brown and stable when dry,[12] but the aqueous solution decomposes in a few days, even in the refrigerator.

[4] Lithium rhodizonate, together with salts of THBQ and benzenehexol, has been considered for possible use in rechargeable electrical batteries.

At pH 8.3 and exposure to light, solutions are stable for days in the absence of oxygen, and decompose to croconic acid and other products (possibly including cyclohexanehexone or dodecahydroxycyclohexane) in its presence.

[16][17] In solution, the acid and the hydrogen rhodizonate ion are mostly hydrated, with some of the carbonyl groups >C=O replaced by geminal hydroxyls, >C(OH)2.