Study of Substituted Ester Formation in Red Wine by the Development of a New Method for Quantitative Determination and Enantiomeric Separation of Their Corresponding Acids.

A new method was developed for quantifying substituted acids including, where applicable, their various unexplored enantiomeric forms. A new step was added to acids' usual quantification methods, consisting of extraction, derivatization to methyl esters, and gas chromatography analysis: preliminary extraction was performed at basic pH to eliminate ethyl esters, thus avoiding their transesterification during derivatization. Quantitation and enantiomeric distribution of some substituted esters and their corresponding acids were established in 31 commercial Bordeaux red wines from 0 to 20 years old. A strong positive correlation was observed between the age of wine and levels of ethyl 2-methylpropanoate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl (3R)-3-hydroxybutanoate, both enantiomeric forms of ethyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate, and ethyl (2S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoate, but not ethyl (3S)-3-hydroxybutanoate. However, the standard deviations of average concentrations for the corresponding substituted acids were so large that only few correlations between concentrations and age were observed. Concentrations of (2S)-2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoic acid and (2S)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid increased slightly over time, while (2R)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid levels decreased slightly with the age. Variations in the ratio of substituted ethyl esters to their corresponding acids over time detected thanks to these analytical advances suggested that, in general, acids were continuously esterified during aging.