Database/Emulsifying Surfactant/Sorbitan Tristearate
100% natural origin · ISO 16128

Is Sorbitan Tristearate natural?

Yes. Sorbitan ring comes from natural sorbitol by simple dehydration; fatty chains are natural stearic acid; no petrochemical input.

INCI nameSorbitan Tristearate
CAS26658-19-5
FormulaC60H114O8 · 963.5 Da
FunctionEmulsifying Surfactant
FeedstockMade by dehydrating sorbitol, a natural sugar alcohol,…

How we scored it

Ester of sorbitan (dehydrated natural sorbitol) and three stearic acid chains; built only from natural blocks, so 1.0.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

How it’s made

Acid-catalysed ring closure of sorbitol (intramolecular SN2). Sorbitan is the ring at the core of every sorbitan ester and polysorbate. Each curved arrow moves one electron pair, and the film ends on the scores for the whole family.

Where it comes from

Made by dehydrating sorbitol, a natural sugar alcohol, into sorbitan, then esterifying with stearic acid from vegetable oil. No petrochemical fragment such as ethylene oxide is added.

In plain English

An emulsifier that helps mix oil and water, made from a natural sugar alcohol and a vegetable fatty acid. Unlike its ethoxylated cousins, the polysorbates, it contains no synthetic petrochemical chain.

CosIng definition: Sorbitan tristearate

Structure

2D structure of Sorbitan Tristearate

[(2R)-2-[(2R,3R,4S)-4-hydroxy-3-octadecanoyloxyoxolan-2-yl]-2-octadecanoyloxyethyl] octadecanoate

PubChem CID 15181202 ↗

References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 2Sorbitan Tristearate. PubChem CID 15181202. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SORBITAN TRISTEARATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SORBITAN TRISTEARATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SORBITAN%20TRISTEARATE