title: Monoalkyl carbonates in carbonated alcoholic beverages.
abstract: The presence of monoethyl carbonate (MEC) in beer and sparkling wine is demonstrated for the first time, as well as the formation of this species in drinks prepared with a distilled beverage and a carbonated soft drink. A capillary electrophoresis (CE) equipment with two capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C(4)D) was used to identify and quantify this species. The concentrations of MEC in samples of lager beer and rum and cola drink were, respectively, 1.2 and 4.1 mmol/l, which agree with the levels of ethanol and CO2 available in these products. Previous results about the kinetics of the reaction suggest that only a small amount of MEC should be formed after the ingredients of a drink are mixed. However, in all three cases (whisky and club soda; rum with cola; gin and tonic water), MEC was quickly formed, which was attributed to the low pH of the drinks.
authors: Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: rabello@usp.br.
authors: Marcelo Rabello
authors: MR
authors: Rossi
authors: Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: denistadeu@gmail.com.
authors: Denis Tadeu Rajh
authors: DT
authors: Vidal
authors: Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: claudemi@iq.usp.br.
authors: Claudimir Lucio
authors: CL
authors: do Lago
mesh_terms: D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000032:analysis*; D001515:Beer / Q000032:analysis*; D002254:Carbonates / Q000737:chemistry*; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates
keywords: Alcoholic beverage; Beer; Capillary electrophoresis; Conductivity detection; Monoethyl carbonate