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Specific extraction of volatile thiols using sodium p-hydroxymercuribenzoate revealed the presence of three new sulfanylalcohols in wines made from Botrytis-infected grapes: 3-sulfanylpentan-1-ol (II), 3-sulfanylheptan-1-ol (III), and 2-methyl-3-sulfanylbutan-1-ol (IV). The first two have citrus aromas, whereas the third is reminiscent of raw onion. In addition, 2-methyl-3-sulfanylpentan-1-ol, which has a raw onion odor, was tentatively identified. Like 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (I), already reported in Sauternes wines, compounds II, III, and IV were absent from must. They were found in wine after alcoholic fermentation, and their concentrations were drastically higher when Botrytis cinerea had developed on the grapes. In the commercial botrytized wines analyzed, the mean levels of II, III, and IV were 209, 51, and 103 ng/L, respectively. Despite their low odor activity values, sensory tests showed additive effects among I, II, and III, thus confirming their olfactory impact on the overall aroma of botrytized wines.

A four-step purification method was developed to isolate a citrus odorant detected by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), which was apparently specific to Sauternes botrytized wines. A fragmentation pattern of the odorant was obtained by multidimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (MDGC-MS-O). The exact mass measurement was used to determine its elemental formula as C(6)H(12)OS. On the basis of these data, the unusual structure of 3-propyl-1,2-oxathiolane was synthesized and characterized for the first time. This confirmed its identification. Its occurrence in Sauternes wine extracts was demonstrated to result from the thermal oxidative degradation of 3-sulfanylhexanol disulfide (3,3'-disulfanediyldihexan-1-ol) in the GC injector. This disulfide was synthesized and then firmly identified for the first time in Sauternes wine. Although the presence of 3-sulfanylhexanol oxidation products had previously been reported in natural extracts (but not wine), the full oxidation pathway from 3-sulfanylhexanol to 3-propyl-γ-sultine via 3,3'-disulfanediyldihexan-1-ol was clearly established for the first time. Because the disulfide has mainly been detected in Sauternes botrytized wines, this finding suggested a singular reactivity of 3-sulfanylhexanol in botrytized wines, thus opening up a wide range of new opportunities in wine chemistry.

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