Thank you Jees. That all makes sense and you definitely helped me understand the goo a lot better.
Interestingly, after 1.5 hours in hot naptha (simply in a jar placed in boiling water) what used to be goo is now freeze precipitating as mostly xtals. At the begining of the process, for a few minutes some of the goo remained as a separate layer at the bottom of the naphtha before dissolving in (see image below). It is interesting that this layer (which looks like a candidate to decant from the hot naphtha) eventually dissolved and later on freezed as mostly crystals. Therefore, I think naphtha re-X can not only separate impurities from DMT, but when kept hot enough time, it may also break up DMT goo so it can crystalize better. I do not know how long this takes to complete though.
To summarize our preliminary findings:
1) Orange goo can be (and probably is) mostly DMT in a "condensed" or "polymer" form.
2) At high pH + high ionic strength goo seems to form and separate.
3) Goo can be broken up in acid water (exact acid type, temps, times needed are unknown).
4) Goo can also be broken up in hot naptha (needed time/temp unknown).
5) Goo is less readily soluble in naphtha than crystals.
So perhaps to change goo to crystals: a long acid boil, not being too aggressive with the base/salt, and keeping the pulled naphtha hot before freezing could all be beneficial.
Since DMT is in salt form in the plant, I don't think it would start as goo. However, it could become goo during the basing step. Perhaps choosing the base condition carefully (pH and ionic strength not too strong) and minimizing the time spent in the base could be ways to avoid the goo to begin with. Making the naphtha pull hot for some time before freezing could break up goo formed in the base step.
I'm not sure about the zinc. At this point it does not seem needed. Would be interesting if it did something in tests.
Another alternative that is testable would be to add some acetone to the naphtha, it may help break up the goo and not interfere too much with crystalization (I remember benzyme mentioning acetone worked pretty well).
Interestingly, after 1.5 hours in hot naptha (simply in a jar placed in boiling water) what used to be goo is now freeze precipitating as mostly xtals. At the begining of the process, for a few minutes some of the goo remained as a separate layer at the bottom of the naphtha before dissolving in (see image below). It is interesting that this layer (which looks like a candidate to decant from the hot naphtha) eventually dissolved and later on freezed as mostly crystals. Therefore, I think naphtha re-X can not only separate impurities from DMT, but when kept hot enough time, it may also break up DMT goo so it can crystalize better. I do not know how long this takes to complete though.
To summarize our preliminary findings:
1) Orange goo can be (and probably is) mostly DMT in a "condensed" or "polymer" form.
2) At high pH + high ionic strength goo seems to form and separate.
3) Goo can be broken up in acid water (exact acid type, temps, times needed are unknown).
4) Goo can also be broken up in hot naptha (needed time/temp unknown).
5) Goo is less readily soluble in naphtha than crystals.
So perhaps to change goo to crystals: a long acid boil, not being too aggressive with the base/salt, and keeping the pulled naphtha hot before freezing could all be beneficial.
Since DMT is in salt form in the plant, I don't think it would start as goo. However, it could become goo during the basing step. Perhaps choosing the base condition carefully (pH and ionic strength not too strong) and minimizing the time spent in the base could be ways to avoid the goo to begin with. Making the naphtha pull hot for some time before freezing could break up goo formed in the base step.
I'm not sure about the zinc. At this point it does not seem needed. Would be interesting if it did something in tests.
Another alternative that is testable would be to add some acetone to the naphtha, it may help break up the goo and not interfere too much with crystalization (I remember benzyme mentioning acetone worked pretty well).