Allyl alcohol-water ternary azeotropes

Allyl alcohol forms an azeotropic mixture with water, and the mixture is a homogeneous liquid. Therefore, to obtain dry allyl alcohol, ternary azeotropic distillation and dehydration are required. 

The checkers found this distillation to require about 15 hours. The distillate is the ternary azeotrope. It consists of 8.5% water, 9.2% allyl alcohol, and 82.2% benzene, and boils at 68.2°. The aqueous layer contains some allyl alcohol, though this loss is insignificant, since only about 15 ml. of the aqueous layer is obtained from each mole of lactic acid used. 

Allyl alcohol is a colorless liquid having a pungent odor its vapor may cause severe irritation and injury to eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. It is also corrosive. Allyl alcohol is freely miscible with water and miscible with many polar organic solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons, but is not miscible with n-hexane. It forms an azeotropic mixture with water and a ternary azeotropic mixture with water and organic solvents. Allyl alcohol lias both bacterial and fungicidal effects. Properties of allyl alcohol are shown in Tabic 1. 

---