Posting from a burner since I can’t log my main now.
I mean you’ve got a huge margin 2.5/100-10/100 so I doubt you can screw up too too bad.It dosen’t matter within reason ofcourse, but start conservatively and see what works and what dosen’t, it’s not blind if you have a generous interval.
And yes, after the extracting of n-formyl by distillation or solvent you will have 1 layer in the flask, and after hcl you will naturally have 2 layers since there is water in the acidic solution.After hydrolysis you then again separate the 2 layers extracting your freebase a few times with a non polar solvent or distillation.
Good on you, sir.Praxis, action is the only way to master a reaction, regardless of theory or disscussion over small details.Keep us posted.