This colorless liquid is insoluble in water but soluble in common organic solvents.
[5][4] Modern preparation protocols economize this approach, replacing relatively expensive phosphorus trichloride with hydrochloric acid and a catalyst such as copper(I) chloride.
At lower temperatures, the main product is 1,2-dichloropropane, but at 500 °C, allyl chloride predominates, being formed via a free radical reaction: An estimated 800,000 tonnes were produced this way in 1997.
As an alkylating agent, it is useful in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and pesticides, such as mustard oil.
[8] Being a reactive alkyl halide, it undergoes reductive coupling to give diallyl:[9] It undergoes oxidative addition to palladium(0) to give allylpalladium chloride dimer, (C3H5)2Pd2Cl2.