Database/Skin Conditioning/Acetyl Tryptophan
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Acetyl Tryptophan natural?

Mostly. Fermentation-derived tryptophan is natural; the acetyl cap comes from petrochemical acetic anhydride.

INCI nameAcetyl Tryptophan
CAS1218-34-4
FormulaC13H14N2O3 · 246.26 Da
FunctionSkin Conditioning · Skin Protecting
FeedstockTryptophan is produced by microbial fermentation and then…

How we scored it

Tryptophan C11H12N2O2 204.23 (fermentation, natural) + acetyl C2H2O 42.04 (acetic anhydride, petrochemical) = total 246.27. 204.23/246.26 = 0.83.
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.

Where it comes from

Tryptophan is produced by microbial fermentation and then acetylated on its amino group using acetic anhydride. The acetyl group is the only petrochemical fragment.

In plain English

A modified form of the amino acid tryptophan, made by fermentation and then chemically capped with an acetyl group. Used to condition and protect skin.

CosIng definition: Acetyl Tryptophan is the organic compound that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Acetyl Tryptophan

2-acetamido-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid

PubChem CID 2002 ↗

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. 2Acetyl Tryptophan. PubChem CID 2002. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ACETYL TRYPTOPHAN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ACETYL TRYPTOPHAN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ACETYL%20TRYPTOPHAN