Detection of Oenological Polyphenols via QCM-D Measurements

Polyphenols are a family of compounds present in grapes, musts, and wines. Their dosage is associated with the grape ripening, correct must fermentation, and final wine properties. Owing to their anti-inflammatory properties, they are also relevant for health applications. To date, such compounds are detected mainly via standard chemical analysis, which is costly for constant monitoring and requires a specialized laboratory. Cheap and portable sensors would be desirable to reduce costs and speed up measurements. This paper illustrates the development of strategies for sensor surface chemical functionalization for polyphenol detection. We perform measurements by using a commercial quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring apparatus. Chemical functionalizations are based on proteins (bovine serum albumin and gelatin type A) or customized peptides derived from istatine-5 and murine salivary protein-5. Commercial oenological additives containing pure gallic tannins or proanthocyanidins, dissolved in water or commercial wine, are used for the analysis. Results indicate that selected functionalizations enable the detection of the two different tannin families, suggesting a relationship between the recorded signal and concentration. Gelatin A also demonstrates the ability to discriminate gallic tannins from proanthocyanidins. Outcomes are promising and pave the way for the exploitation of such devices for precision oenology.

Vaporization Thermodynamics of Pyrrolidinium, Pyridinium, and Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids Bearing the Bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide [FSI] and the Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [NTf2] Anions

New experimental vapor pressures in the range 407 K to 460 K and vaporization enthalpy of the ionic liquids (IL) N-alkyl-N-methyl-pyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide ionic liquids have been measured using quartz crystal microbalance. The absolute vapor pressures and vaporization enthalpies were compared with analogous pyrrolidinium-based ILs with the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anion. The evaluated difference in vaporization enthalpy of ILs with bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anions allowed for estimation of corresponding property for a wide set of ILs with bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion. The results are relevant to chemical engineering calculations of processes involving ILs as reaction and separation media.