Database/Cleansing/Butyl Glucoside
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Butyl Glucoside natural?

Mostly. Glucose comes from starch while butanol is made from propylene by oxo synthesis, so only the sugar part counts as natural origin.

INCI nameButyl Glucoside
CAS5391-18-4
FormulaC10H20O6 · 236.26 Da
FunctionCleansing · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockDominant route: acid-catalysed glycosylation of starch-derived glucose with…

How we scored it

Glucosyl C6H11O5 163.2 (glucose, natural) + butoxy C4H9O 73.1 (butanol, petrochemical oxo alcohol). Total 236.3; 163.2/236.3 = 0.69.
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

Dominant route: acid-catalysed glycosylation of starch-derived glucose with petrochemical n-butanol. Fermentation bio-butanol exists but is not commercially significant for this ingredient.

In plain English

A small sugar-based cleansing ingredient used in washes. It is made by joining glucose, from starch such as corn, to butanol, a petrochemical alcohol.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Butyl Glucoside

(2R,3R,4S,5S,6R)-2-butoxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-3,4,5-triol

PubChem CID 111068 ↗

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. 2Butyl Glucoside. PubChem CID 111068. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BUTYL GLUCOSIDE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BUTYL GLUCOSIDE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BUTYL%20GLUCOSIDE