Database/Perfuming/Alpha-Ionone
Route-dependent · ISO 16128

Is Alpha-Ionone natural?

It depends. Citral fragment traces to lemongrass/litsea oil or petrochemical isobutylene depending on supplier; acetone fragment is always petrochemical; dominant route uses synthetic citral.

INCI nameAlpha-Ionone
CAS127-41-3
FormulaC13H20O · 192.30 Da
FunctionPerfuming
FeedstockMade by aldol-condensing citral with acetone to pseudoionone,…

Why the score varies

This ingredient is made commercially by more than one route, and ISO 16128 scores the feedstock actually used. Without a supplier certificate of origin the value cannot be claimed.

RouteFeedstockNOIShareNotes
Petrochemical synthesissynthetic citral (ex-isobutylene) + acetone, aldol condensation and acid cyclisation0.00~65%
Natural-citral synthesiscitral ex-lemongrass/litsea cubeba oil + acetone, same condensation0.71~35%
Ask your supplier. A batch-specific certificate of origin or bio-based carbon test (ASTM D6866) settles which route applies.

How we scored it

Citral C10H16O + acetone C3H6O, -H2O, cyclised to C13H20O. Acetone fragment always petrochemical. Citral natural only if lemongrass-sourced; petrochemical-citral route dominates supply, scored 0.0.
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.

Where it comes from

Made by aldol-condensing citral with acetone to pseudoionone, then acid-cyclising to ionone; citral can be synthetic (ex-isobutylene) or natural (ex-lemongrass/litsea cubeba oil), while acetone is always petrochemical. The petrochemical-citral route is assumed to dominate cosmetic-grade supply.

In plain English

A violet/floral fragrance ingredient made by reacting citral (a lemongrass-scented compound) with acetone. The citral can come from lemongrass oil or be made synthetically, so the natural content varies by supplier.

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Structure

2D structure of Alpha-Ionone

(E)-4-(2,6,6-trimethylcyclohex-2-en-1-yl)but-3-en-2-one

PubChem CID 5282108 ↗

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. 2Alpha-Ionone. PubChem CID 5282108. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ALPHA-IONONE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ALPHA-IONONE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ALPHA-IONONE