The combination of chiral cobalt β-ketoiminato or cobalt salen complexes and meso 1,2-dioxines leads to catalytic asymmetric ring-opening affording enantio-enriched cis γ-hydroxy enones; subsequent capture by an ylide affords enantio-enriched cyclopropanes.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is important in the winemaking process as it aids in preventing microbial growth and the oxidation of wine. These processes and others consume the SO₂ over time, resulting in wines with little SO₂ protection. Furthermore, SO₂ and sulfiting agents are known to be allergens to many individuals and for that reason their levels need to be monitored and regulated in final wine products. Many of the current techniques for monitoring SO₂ in wine require the SO₂ to be separated from the wine prior to analysis. This investigation demonstrates a technique capable of measuring free sulfite concentrations in low volume liquid samples in white wine. This approach adapts a known colorimetric reaction to a suspended core optical fiber sensing platform, and exploits the interaction between guided light located within the fiber voids and a mixture of the wine sample and a colorimetric analyte. We have shown that this technique enables measurements to be made without dilution of the wine samples, thus paving the way towards real time in situ wine monitoring.

Volatile phenols have been implicated as contributors to off-odors associated with taints from bushfire smoke and microbial spoilage. Various methods for the amelioration of off-odors have been evaluated, but to date, they have not included cyclodextrin (CD) polymers. In the current study, two CD polymers were prepared from β- and γ-CD, using hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) as a crosslinking agent. Adsorption tests were performed with four volatile phenols (guaiacol, 4-methylguaiacol, 4-ethylguaiacol and 4-ethylphenol) at concentrations up to 1 mg/L. The removal of volatile phenols by CD polymers achieved equilibrium almost instantly, with isotherm tests suggesting an adsorption capacity of 20.7 µg of volatile phenol per gram of polymer. Langmuir and Freundlich models were subsequently used to fit the data. In batch adsorption tests, the CD polymers achieved 45 to 77% removal of volatile phenols. Polymer reusability was also evaluated and was found to be excellent. A comparison between volatile phenol adsorption by CDs vs. CD polymers, determined using a novel four-phase headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), suggests CD polymers offer several advantages for use by the wine industry.