Database/Antimicrobial/Chlorhexidine
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Chlorhexidine natural?

No. Synthetic antiseptic built entirely from petrochemical chloroaniline and nitrogen-chemistry intermediates; no natural-origin fragment.

INCI nameChlorhexidine
CAS55-56-1
FormulaC22H30Cl2N10 · 505.4 Da
FunctionAntimicrobial · Oral Care
FeedstockProduced by reacting 4-chloroaniline with cyanoguanidine and hexamethylenediamine,…

How we scored it

Fully synthetic bis-biguanide from petrochemical chloroaniline and cyanoguanidine; no natural fragment → 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

Produced by reacting 4-chloroaniline with cyanoguanidine and hexamethylenediamine, all petrochemical or synthetic nitrogen-chemistry intermediates. No natural or fermentation route exists.

In plain English

A synthetic antiseptic used in oral care and antimicrobial products. It is manufactured entirely through chemical synthesis from petrochemical starting materials.

CosIng definition: Chlorhexidine is an organic compound that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Chlorhexidine

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

PubChem CID 9552079 ↗

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. PubChem CID 9552079. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3CHLORHEXIDINE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4CHLORHEXIDINE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=CHLORHEXIDINE