Ice recrystallization inhibitor (IRI) compounds and methods for cryopreserving umbilical cord blood are provided. The compounds are unsubstituted, mono-substituted, or di-substituted aryl-aldonamides. The methods include fractionating whole umbilical cord blood to generate a fraction comprising hematopoietic stem cells, mixing the hematopoietic stem cells with at least one IRI compound to form an IRI suspension, and freezing the IRI suspension.
