Hopefully the combined wisdom and experience of the vespiary will educate a fellow wasp, heretofore my enquiry. Have any of the brave and brilliant wasps attempted the modified Benseker reduction of the common benzyl alcohol to  the phenylalkane of desire?

Using the EN ligand, in place of the heavily scrutinised solvent more commonly known, to solvate electrons from the earth metals proceeds according to established convention. Clarity of the royal blue solution upon end point (expected 10min at STP) and isolation is perplexingly on the contrary though.
The clarification of the solution does not accrue, even upon allowing several hours and/or heating of the reaction. It only clears upon quenching with several volumes of water.
Of far more concern and heartbreak is that the only extract reportedly obtainable, from both residue and NP extraction/acidification are undesired salts. Aqueous washes of the NP solvent/residue have not remedied this, nor has; introducing the reactant as a salt, dissolution of the residue with dilute aqueous hydrochloric, basification, NP extraction, acidification by gaseous or aqueous proton donors.

My the vespiary guide a troubled but gracious and hopeful wasp.

I always get this response when asking this question, I still don't really comprehend what detail is lacking. Please therefore excuse me should I neglect or not address a specific detail of interest, I really would appreciate any assistance and encourage you to take advantage of my offer to any further specific details that may be of interest or relevance upon query. Just ask away but shoot straight, I'm easily confused when dealing with people whilst on day release from the lab. 

The modification to the standard reaction is that there is an absence of polycyclical reactants and the solvated electrons are hypothetically going to react to deoxygenate the alcohol functional group of the target monocyclical aromatics alcohol bearing side chain transforming it to the subsequent aminoalkane side chain of the benzyl ring. Its application is much like the infamous reduction named after that crazy but endearing ozzy chemist, Auther Birch. While traditionally neither named reaction is described as being specifically for the purposes of deoxygenation of aromatics the functionality of there diversity to do so is fairly well know.

I have read, Sedit, that you've had some experience with formation of the closely related and more potent lithum bronze. Hopefully you'll be able to shed some light on my dark corner of existance.

Thanks Jon. Is SnB really a Li bronze reaction though or does the Li just look bronze as its slowly dissolves into the ammonial naphtha? In the Benseker type reactions Li powder dissolves into the amine without cosolvent at STP. However if wire, ribbon or reclaimed battery anodes are used the amine needs to be heated to afford progressive dissolution of the metal. As it dissolves there is a bronzed look to both the as yet in dissolved metals surface and the solution, approaching complete dissolution the solution turns to the deep blue commonly described.

Thanks Sedit. I added some xylene to an amount of blue EDA/Li solution I had in a sealed flask for over a week and the color change to a more bronzed appearance was almost instant. Correct me if I'm wrong but would it because the addition of the xylene altered the solubility parameters of the blue solution pushing some of the anions out of the mix?

You may ask why did I have a ready to go flask of blue sitting around for over a week? Well besides  not having sorted out the issues of product isolation, I was interested in the stability of the solution. I also have been unsuccessful in synthesis of a suitable reactant. The OTC variety seems to be a waste of funds if I cant extract the product. A pot of it sitting around while Im scratching my head as to how to get it out coupled with the potential increase in unwanted attention that may follow the OTC reactant acquisition, just seemed a bit risky.

Thanks again, Sedit. Using the ammonia gas to provide a protective and beneficially reactive environment is a great idea.

Might the extraction difficulties from EDA be due to the fact that both product and solvent are amines?