Volatile organic compounds including acetaldehyde, methanol, and higher alcohols such as 1-propanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol in 75 domestic and imported alcoholic beverages consumed in Korea were investigated and evaluated using a gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometer. The acetaldehyde contents in the studied samples ranged from 0.02 to 11.73 mg/L, and were highest in refined rice wines and fruit wines. Only the wine and fruit wine samples contained methanol, at concentrations in the range of 1.42-23.81 mg/L. The 1-propanol content was highest in whisky, while the 3-methyl-1-butanol content ranged from 4.45 to 280 mg/L in all samples other than Korean distilled liquor.

Recently, concerns about the volatile hazardous compounds including acetaldehyde, methanol, and fusel oils in alcoholic beverages, which cause hangover such as headache and dizziness after consumption, have been raised. The volatile hazardous compounds might also lead to an increased incidence of liver diseases and even cancers with a high consumption of alcoholic beverages. Acetaldehyde is a volatile compound naturally found in alcoholic beverages and used as flavor in many foods. However this is also regarded as possibly being carcinogenic to humans. Furthermore, acetaldehyde with alcoholic consumption is recently classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans. On the other hand, methanol is generated from demethoxylation of pectin by pectinolytic enzyme during alcoholic fermentation. Higher alcohols occur naturally in alcoholic beverages as by-products of alcoholic fermentation and are generally regarded as important flavor compounds. In the current study, we reviewed on the health concern, maximum levels, analytical methods, and current levels of hazardous volatile compounds in alcoholic beverages.

We synthesized 2'-deoxy-2'-[ 18 F]fluorouridine (7) as a radiotracer for positron emission tomography from a new nosylate precursor (6). This new precursor was synthesized from uridine in four steps. The overall synthetic yield was 9.4% and we have high stability of >98% purity up to 6 months at 48C. The optimal manual [ 18 F]fluorination conditions were 30 mg of the precursor 6 in 500 ml of acetonitrile at 1458C for 15 min with 370 MBq of [ 18 F]fluoride. The [ 18 F]fluorination yield was 76.5 AE 2.7% (n=3). After hydrolysis of protecting groups with 1 N HCl and purification by HPLC, the overall radiochemical yield and purity were 26.5 AE 1.4% and 98.2 AE 2.5%, respectively. The preparation time was 70.0 AE 10.5 min (n=3 for each result). We also developed an automated method with a radiochemical yield and purity of 24.0 AE 2.8 and 98.0 AE 1.5% (n=10) using a GE TracerLab MX chemistry module. This new nosylate precursor for 2'-deoxy-2'-[ 18 F]fluorouridine synthesis showed higher radiochemical yields and reproducibility than previous methods.Reactions were carried out for 15 min. Decay-corrected radiochemical yields from 370 MGBq/0.5 ml of [ 18 F]fluoride.