Isotope labelled Potassium Thiocyanate has been used as a catalyst in a one-pot reaction of dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates with indane-1,3-dione. Potassium Thiocyanate has been used as a selective bacterial inhibitor to create ESS-3 broth to allow co-enrichment of the target pathogens and suppress growth of some non-target pathogens