Identification of Hydrogen Disulfanes and Hydrogen Trisulfanes in H₂S Bottle, in Flint, and in Dry Mineral White Wine

Abstract

Through the accidental contamination of a gas cylinder of HS, the importance of polysulfanes for flint, gun powder, and match odors was discovered. The hydrogen disulfane was prepared from disulfanediylbis[methyl(diphenyl)silane], and its odor descriptor was evaluated in the gas phase from a gas chromatograph coupled to an olfaction port. The occurrence of this compound in flint and pebbles was confirmed by analyses after derivatization with pentafluorobromobenzene. The occurrence of this sulfane was also confirmed in two dry white Swiss Chasselas wines, sorted by a large-scale sensory analysis from 80 bottles and evaluated by 62 wine professionals. The occurrence of disulfane was confirmed for the two wines described as the most mineral. Polysulfane comprises a class of compounds contributing to the flint odor and that may contribute to the wine mineral odor descriptor. Due to the high volatility and instability pure HSSH was not isolated but kept in solution and its odor profile was described by gas chromatography coupled to an olfaction port as flint, matches, and fireworks with a higher odor intensity compared to HS.

Converting organosulfur compounds to inorganic polysulfides against resistant bacterial infections

“…Many natural minerals are composed of iron sulfide, such as pyrite, marcasite, pyrrhotite and flint. In particular, flint has been found to be able to release hydrogen disulfanes and hydrogen trisulfanes 44 , showing the potential as a donor of polysulfanes that affect microbial ecology. Besides our solvothermal system, nano-iron sulfides can be simply synthesized using a proper sulfur precursor and thus are expected to be able to release polysulfanes 19 , 45 , 46 .…”

Minerality in Wine: Towards the Reality behind the Myths

“…However, in their evaluation of the role of thiols in Australian Chardonnay wines [41], Capone and colleagues found a statistical link between BMT and the presence of flint and wet stone notes. As mentioned above [63], it has been argued that a flinty smell also involves unstable disulphanes released by striking surfaces of flint.…”

“…Several researchers have reported investigations into mineral content of a range of wine varieties [19,59,60]. Despite this, only a handful of published studies has attempted to associate wine physico-chemical composition with sensory data concerning perception of mineral character in wine [44,51,55,[61][62][63].…”

“…Another recent study [63] argued for the important role of sulphur compounds in perceived minerality, in particular polysulphanes that are usually associated to flinty, gunpowder and match odours (see Section 3 above). The authors first selected two Chasselas wines from Switzerland considered as highly mineral by a panel of 62 wine professionals, as well as two wines considered as having no minerality by the same panel.…”

“…Chemical analyses showed significantly higher polysulphane concentrations in the Chasselas wines perceived as having high minerality. Starkenmann and colleagues [63] argued that the flinty smell detected in the two Chasselas wines involves the same unstable disulphane compounds that produce gun-flint notes from struck surfaces, the result of complex oxidation and reduction reactions. As mentioned in Section 3, other researchers [41,64] have suggested another sulphur compound, namely BMT, as a source of flinty notes in Chardonnay wines.…”