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

Is Beta-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 nameBeta-Ionone
CAS14901-07-6
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 the beta isomer C13H20O. Acetone fragment always petrochemical. Citral natural only if lemongrass-sourced; petrochemical-citral route dominates, 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 favour the beta isomer; citral can be synthetic or natural (ex-lemongrass/litsea cubeba oil), while acetone is always petrochemical. The petrochemical-citral route is assumed dominant.

In plain English

A fragrance ingredient with a violet, woody scent, made by reacting citral with acetone. Citral can be lemongrass-derived or synthetic, so how much of the final ingredient counts as natural depends on the supplier.

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Structure

2D structure of Beta-Ionone

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

PubChem CID 638014 ↗

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. 2Beta-Ionone. PubChem CID 638014. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BETA-IONONE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BETA-IONONE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BETA-IONONE