Quantification of protein by acid hydrolysis reveals higher than expected concentrations in red wines: Implications for wine tannin concentration and colloidal stability.

Protein is reportedly negligible in most red wines, due to its loss following co-precipitation with phenolic substances. A method for protein quantification in red wine was developed which overcame analytical interference from phenolic substances, based on ethanol precipitation, followed by acid-hydrolysis and amino acid quantification. Protein concentration was surveyed in a range of red wines produced from V. vinifera and interspecific (Vitis spp) hybrids, revealing higher than expected concentrations, ranging from 23 mg/L ± 2.57 to 380 mg/L ± 16. The results showed that tannin extracted from grapes remains soluble in wine in the presence of protein even at high protein (>100 mg/L) and tannin (>500 mg/L) concentrations. As a further consequence of this, the particle size and concentration of colloids within high- and low-protein wines were similar, independent of protein or tannin concentration. Higher wine tannin concentration was also correlated with increased heat stability of wine protein.

Chemistry and Reactivity of Tannins in Vitis spp.: A Review.

Tannins are a group of polyphenols found in fruits, leaves, trees, etc., well known in the leather industry and in apples, persimmons and grapes, because of their capacity to interact with other polyphenols or other components either from the food product or from saliva. Prior to being able to interact with other compounds, tannins have to be extracted from the food matrix, which depends on their chemistry, as well as the chemical structure of other components, such as cell wall material and proteins. Vitis vinifera grapes are commonly grown around the world and are used in winemaking, providing good quality wines with different levels of tannins responsible for the final wine's astringency. Many studies have focused on tannins extractability and retention with cell wall material, and the reactivity of tannins with proteins in Vitis vinifera grapes and wine, but there are very few reports for other Vitis species. However, depending on the environmental characteristics of certain regions, Vitis hybrid grapes are grown and used to produce wines more and more. This review focuses on the comparison of the chemistry of tannins, and their reactivity with other macromolecules in Vitis species.

Low-valent chemistry: an alternative approach to phosphorus-containing oligomers.

A convenient preparative approach to low-valent phosphorus-rich oligomers is presented. Ligand substitution reactions involving anionic diphosphine ligands of the form [(PR2)2N](-) and [(PPh2)2C5H3](-) and a triphosphenium bromide P(I) precursor result in the formation of phosphorus(I)-containing heterocycles, several of which are of types that have never been prepared before. The methodology described also allows for the preparation of the known heterocycle cyclo-[P(PPh2)N(PPh2)]2 in better yields and purity than the synthetic approach reported previously. Preliminary reactivity studies demonstrate the viability of such zwitterionic oligomers as multidentate ligands for transition metals.

Solid-state chlorine NMR of group IV transition metal organometallic complexes.

Static solid-state (35)Cl (I = (3)/(2)) NMR spectra of the organometallic compounds Cp(2)TiCl(2), CpTiCl(3), Cp(2)ZrCl(2), Cp(2)HfCl(2), Cp*(2)ZrCl(2), CpZrCl(3), Cp*ZrCl(3), Cp(2)ZrMeCl, (Cp(2)ZrCl)(2)mu-O, and Cp(2)ZrHCl (Schwartz's reagent) have been acquired at 9.4 T with the quadrupolar Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (QCPMG) sequence in a piecewise manner. Spectra of several samples have also been acquired at 21.1 T. The electric field gradient (EFG) tensor parameters, the quadrupolar coupling constant (C(Q)) and quadrupolar asymmetry parameter (eta(Q)), are readily extracted from analytical simulations of the spectra. The (35)Cl EFG and chemical-shift tensor parameters are demonstrated to be sensitive probes of metallocene structure and allow for differentiation of monomeric and oligomeric structures. First-principles calculations of the (35)Cl EFG parameters successfully reproduce the experimental values and trends. The origin of the observed values of C(Q)((35)Cl) are further examined with natural localized molecular orbital (NLMO) analyses. The combination of experimental and theoretical methods applied to the model compounds are employed to structurally characterize Schwartz's reagent (Cp(2)ZrHCl), for which a crystal structure is unavailable. Aside from a few select examples of single-crystal NMR spectra, this is the first reported application of solid-state (35)Cl NMR spectroscopy to molecules with covalently bound chlorine atoms. It is anticipated that the methodology outlined herein will find application in the structural characterization of a wide variety of chlorine-containing transition-metal and main-group systems.

A convenient preparative method for cyclic triphosphenium bromide and chloride salts.

Analytically pure chloride and bromide salts of two different cyclic triphosphenium cations are prepared by the reaction of PX3 (X=Cl, Br) in the presence of the halogen-scavenging reagent cyclohexene. For the brominated species, the neutral, volatile 1,2-dibromocyclohexane byproduct is readily removed under reduced pressure, and the desired salts are obtained in high yield. Reactions involving phosphorus trichloride are complicated by the formation of salts containing both chloride and hydrogen dichloride anions. Reactivity experiments on potential undesired halogenated diphosphine byproducts suggest that the formation of such species can be prevented by increasing the concentration of cyclohexene employed in the reaction.