ALLYL ALCOHOL, a colourless mobile liquid of pungent smell, boiling at 97°C. Its chemical formula is or : It is an unsaturated primary alcohol occurring in very small quantities in wood spirit. It may be prepared by heating glycerin with oxalic acid and a little ammonium chloride to 26o° C. In this reaction glycerol monoformin is produced as an intermediate product, but is decomposed as the temperature rises:— Being unsaturated allyl alcohol combines readily with the halo gens. Oxidation by strong oxidizing agents converts it succes sively into its aldehyde, acrolein, and into acrylic acid. By gentle oxidation with potassium permanganate, it may be converted into glycerin (see CHEMISTRY : Organic).