This is the procedure from the journal you referenced, where they cook up three batches each using 87g of allyl alcohol (= 261 g/4.5 mol in total), then combines the high-boiling distillates from those three and isolate 45g (0.38 mol) of allylbenzene boiling at 105-165°C from it by fractional distillation. That's only a 8.5% yield, so it seems like you got twice that by using allylbromide instead.
Allylbenzene from Allyl Alcohol, Benzene and Aluminum Chloride
87 g of allyl alcohol, bp 95-97°C, was dissolved in 585g of benzene and the solution stirred constantly during the addition of 99 g of aluminum chloride. The addition of the chloride took, in general, from two to three hours, during which time the temperature was maintained at 20-25°C The stirring was continued for about eight hours, while the mixture gradually became dark reddish-brown.
The next morning it was decomposed with ice and dilute hydrochloric acid. The benzene layer was separated and the aqueous portion extracted thrice with ether. The ether was distilled and the residue added to the benzene portion. This was fractionated with a 20cm column, 510 g of benzene and 30 g of allyl alcohol were recovered from those portions which came over below 105°C. The residue weighed 28 g. This was combined with the products of two other runs, and fractionated eight times. The fractions obtained were as follows: 105-165°C 45g; 85-105°C (18mmHg) 10 g; 105-135°C (18mmHg) 1g; 135-170 (18mmHg) 14.5g; tarry residue 14 g. Practically all of the fraction boiling at 105-165°C (746mmHg) proved to be allyl benzene (bp 157-159°C).
In order to verify the identification, 4g of allylbenzene was heated on the water-bath with 8g of potassium hydroxide in 80mL of 95% alcohol for three hours. Most of the alcohol was then distilled and 250 mL of water added. After the solution was neutralized with hydrochloric acid, it was extracted with ether. The ether was distilled and the propenylbenzene treated in chloroform solution with 2 mL of bromine. After two crystallizations from alcohol the 1,2-dibromopropylhenzene melted sharply at 66-66.5°C.
The 85-105°C (18 mmHg) fraction came over after repeated distillation at 90.5-92.5°C (18mmHg). When distilled under atmospheric pressure it had the correct boiling point for 2-chloropropylbenzene, 205-207°C [JCS 52,35 (1887)].
A determination of chlorine (Carius) gave 21.75%. When boiled with dil. nitric acid (10%) it gave p-nitrobenzoic acid (mp 237-238°C) the methyl ester of which melted at 96°C. Oxidation with potassium permanganate gave benzoic acid.
The fraction boiling at 135-170°C (18mmHg) did not give a sharp boiling point after ten distillations. A Carius determination for chlorine gave 5.53%. The entire fraction was dissolved in 50 mL of ether, the solution treated with 1 g of finely chipped sodium and refluxed on a water-bath for four hours. The mixture was filtered, the ether evaporated and the residue fractionated. After three distillations 6.5 g. came over at 277-280°C (745 mmHg). Its properties were those of a saturated hydrocarbon. It is probably 1,2-diphenyIpropane, C6H6-CH2CH2-C6H6 [Compt Rend, 139, 1482 (1904)].
Reference: J Am. Chem. Soc. 48, 1955-1959 (1926)
