Database/Antimicrobial/Chlorhexidine Diacetate
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Chlorhexidine Diacetate natural?

No. Synthetic biguanide antiseptic made entirely from petrochemical chloroaniline, cyanamide and hexamethylenediamine feedstocks.

INCI nameChlorhexidine Diacetate
CAS56-95-1
FormulaC26H38Cl2N10O4 · 625.5 Da
FunctionAntimicrobial · Oral Care
FeedstockChlorhexidine is manufactured by condensing 4-chloroaniline with cyanamide…

How we scored it

Whole bis(chlorophenylbiguanide)hexane cation + diacetate built from petrochemical 4-chloroaniline, cyanamide, hexamethylenediamine; no natural fragment. 0/625.5 = 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

Chlorhexidine is manufactured by condensing 4-chloroaniline with cyanamide and hexamethylenediamine, all petrochemical intermediates, then salified with acetic acid. No commercially significant natural route exists.

In plain English

A synthetic antiseptic used to fight germs in mouthwashes and antibacterial products. It's built in a lab from chemical building blocks, not derived from plants or other natural sources.

CosIng definition: Chlorhexidine Diacetate is a salt of Chlorhexidine and acetic acid. It conforms generally to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Chlorhexidine Diacetate

acetic acid;(1E)-2-[6-[[amino-[(E)-[amino-(4-chloroanilino)methylidene]amino]methylidene]amino]hexyl]-1-[amino-(4-chloroanilino)methylidene]guanidine

PubChem CID 9562059 ↗

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. 2Chlorhexidine Diacetate. PubChem CID 9562059. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3CHLORHEXIDINE DIACETATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4CHLORHEXIDINE DIACETATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CHLORHEXIDINE%20DIACETATE