Database/Emollient/Butyl Palmitate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Butyl Palmitate natural?

Mostly. Natural palm/tallow-derived palmitic acid esterified with petrochemical n-butanol; the palmitoyl fragment dominates the mass.

INCI nameButyl Palmitate
CAS111-06-8
FormulaC20H40O2 · 312.5 Da
FunctionEmollient
FeedstockMade by esterifying palm- or tallow-derived palmitic acid…

How we scored it

Palmitic acid acyl fragment (natural, oleochemical, ~239 Da) + butoxy fragment (petrochemical n-butanol, ~73 Da) of 312.5 Da ester -> 239/312.5 = 0.77.
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 palm- or tallow-derived palmitic acid with petrochemical n-butanol. No natural commercial source of butanol is used in cosmetic-grade material.

In plain English

A skin-softening ester made by combining a palm-derived fatty acid with a small synthetic alcohol. Most of its weight comes from the natural palm or tallow fatty acid.

CosIng definition: Butyl Palmitate is the organic compound that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Butyl Palmitate

butyl hexadecanoate

PubChem CID 8090 ↗

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 Palmitate. PubChem CID 8090. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3BUTYL PALMITATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4BUTYL PALMITATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=BUTYL%20PALMITATE