Database/Hair Waving Or Straightening/Diammonium Dithiodiglycolate
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Diammonium Dithiodiglycolate natural?

No. The backbone comes from petrochemical chloroacetic acid and the ammonium from natural-gas ammonia; the sulfur is bonded into the molecule rather than present as a mineral sulfate or counter-ion, so, as for the thioglycolates, nothing is credited.

INCI nameDiammonium Dithiodiglycolate
CAS68223-93-8
FormulaC4H12N2O4S2 · 216.3 Da
FunctionHair Waving Or Straightening
FeedstockThioglycolic acid is made from chloroacetic acid and…

How we scored it

C4H12N2O4S2 216.3 Da: carboxymethyl backbone C4H4O4 116.1 Da from chloroacetic acid (petrochemical), 2 NH4 36.1 Da from natural-gas ammonia (petrochemical) and disulfide sulfur 64.1 Da, which is not credited because it is bonded into the organic chain (as for Thioglycolic Acid and Ammonium Thioglycolate); 0 / 216.3 = 0.00.
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

Thioglycolic acid is made from chloroacetic acid and sodium hydrosulfide, oxidised to dithiodiglycolic acid and neutralised with ammonia. No bio-based route is commercial.

In plain English

A sulfur-containing ammonium salt used in hair-waving and straightening products, where it works alongside thioglycolate to rearrange the sulfur bonds in hair. It is made by oxidising thioglycolic acid and neutralising it with ammonia.

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Structure

2D structure of Diammonium Dithiodiglycolate

diazanium;2-(carboxylatomethyldisulfanyl)acetate

PubChem CID 6455809 ↗

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. 2Diammonium Dithiodiglycolate. PubChem CID 6455809. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3DIAMMONIUM DITHIODIGLYCOLATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4DIAMMONIUM DITHIODIGLYCOLATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=DIAMMONIUM%20DITHIODIGLYCOLATE