Database/Hair Dyeing/Acid Brown 13
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Acid Brown 13 natural?

Mostly not. Synthetic polyazo anilino acid dye. Its sulfonate groups (from sulfur trioxide) and sodium counter-ions count as natural origin under the site's counter-ion convention; the coloured carbon skeleton is entirely petrochemical. Same treatment as CI 16185.

INCI nameAcid Brown 13
CAS6373-79-1
FormulaC36H26N6Na2O12S3 · 876.8 Da
FunctionHair Dyeing
FeedstockPetrochemical aromatic amines and naphthols coupled into the…

How we scored it

Acid Brown 13 (disodium salt) C36H26N6Na2O12S3 876.8 Da: 3×SO3 240.2 Da + 2×Na 46.0 Da are mineral-derived (natural) = 286.2 Da; the polyazo anilino chromophore 590.6 Da is petrochemical → 286.2/876.8 = 0.33.
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

Petrochemical aromatic amines and naphthols coupled into the dye, sulfonated with sulfur trioxide/sulfuric acid and neutralised with sodium hydroxide.

In plain English

A synthetic brown dye used in hair colourants. No detailed source data was available, but dyes of this class are made from petroleum-derived chemicals.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Acid Brown 13

disodium;2-anilino-5-[4-[4-(4-anilino-3-sulfonatoanilino)-3-nitrophenyl]sulfonyl-2-nitroanilino]benzenesulfonate

PubChem CID 6454704 ↗

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. 2Acid Brown 13. PubChem CID 6454704. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ACID BROWN 13. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ACID BROWN 13. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ACID%20BROWN%2013