Database/Fragrance/Butyl Lactate
Half & half · ISO 16128

Is Butyl Lactate natural?

Half and half. Ester of fermentation-derived lactic acid with butanol, which this site's method treats as a synthetic alcohol.

INCI nameButyl Lactate
CAS138-22-7
FormulaC7H14O3 · 146.18 Da
FunctionFragrance · Solvent
FeedstockMade by esterifying lactic acid, produced by fermenting…

How we scored it

Lactoyl fragment C3H5O2 73.1 Da (fermentation lactic acid, natural) + butyl fragment C4H9O 73.1 Da (petrochemical butanol). 73.1/146.19 = 0.50.
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 esterifying lactic acid, produced by fermenting sugars, with butanol, an industrial petrochemical alcohol. A bio-butanol route exists but is not the dominant cosmetic-grade source.

In plain English

A solvent and fragrance ingredient made by combining lactic acid, produced by fermenting sugar, with butanol, an industrially produced alcohol.

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Structure

2D structure of Butyl Lactate

butyl 2-hydroxypropanoate

PubChem CID 8738 ↗

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 Lactate. PubChem CID 8738. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BUTYL LACTATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BUTYL LACTATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BUTYL%20LACTATE