Allyl Alcohol
ALLYL ALCOHOL, C3H5OH or CH2:CH.CH2OH, a compound which occurs in very small quantities in wood spirit. It may be prepared from allyl iodide by the action of moist silver oxide by the reduction of acrolein; or by heating glycerin with oxalic acid and a little ammonium chloride to 260 deg. C. In this last reaction glycerol monoformin is produced as an intermediate product, but is decomposed as the temperature rises:- C3H5(OH)3+H2C2O4 = C3H5(OH)2.O.CHO+CO2+H2O glycerol monoformin C3H5(OH)2.O.CHO = C3H5OH+CO2+H2O It is a colourless mobile liquid of pungent smell, boiling at 97 deg. C. Being an unsaturated compound it combines readily with the halogens. Oxidation by strong oxidizing agents converts it successively into its aldehyde, acrolein, and into acrylic acid. By gentle oxidation with potassium permanganate it may be converted into glycerin.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
