Database/Antistatic/Decyl Betaine
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Decyl Betaine natural?

Mostly. The decyl chain is from coconut or palm-kernel fatty alcohol, while dimethylamine and the chloroacetate-derived carboxymethyl group are petrochemical.

INCI nameDecyl Betaine
CAS2644-45-3
FormulaC14H29NO2 · 243.39 Da
FunctionAntistatic · Cleansing
FeedstockDominant route: decyl dimethylamine from oleochemical C10 alcohol…

How we scored it

Decyl C10H21 141.3 natural (coconut or palm-kernel C10 chain). Petrochemical: N(CH3)2 44.1 (dimethylamine) + CH2COO 58.0 (chloroacetate) = 102.1. Total 243.4; 141.3/243.4 = 0.58.
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: decyl dimethylamine from oleochemical C10 alcohol or acid is quaternised with sodium chloroacetate. Supplier note: C10 alcohol can be synthetic (oxo or Ziegler), which would drop the value to 0.0.

In plain English

A cleansing, foam-boosting surfactant used in washes and cleansers. The ten-carbon chain comes from coconut or palm-kernel oil; the dimethylamine and acetate head group is synthetic.

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Structure

2D structure of Decyl Betaine

2-[decyl(dimethyl)azaniumyl]acetate

PubChem CID 75844 ↗

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. 2Decyl Betaine. PubChem CID 75844. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3DECYL BETAINE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4DECYL BETAINE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=DECYL%20BETAINE