reaction mess

[NWC]

I reduced an amino alkanol in acetic acid, water with I2 and P. This is an
old technique made infamous in recent years and as I understand it the
acetic acid was optional but I followed the procedure from OS I, p 224.

Anyway, on basification with NaOH
(I should have used NH4OH)
I removed all the P by filtration of the hot reaction mixture and added
bisulfite to get rid of excess I2. I wanted to extract with a low boiling
solvent so I cooled overnight.

Turns out that may have been a mistake. A white precipitate formed that I
believe is sodium acetate but may include some of the desired amine. If
anything, it smells more like a sodium base than acetate or amine. I
removed the layer of solvent I had added the night before and filtered
again. I collected a large quantity of white cystals consisting of equal
amounts of tablets and amorphous globs. The filtrate then slowly began
precipitating more (different ?) white crystals.

My product should be soluble in ethanol or MeOH. I'm thinking of placing
the filtered cake in alcohol and heating to gather any bound up amine.
Also, heating the filtrate before extrating it with DCM of hexane.

Can you think of anything else or have run into this yourselves?