Database/Emollient/Diisostearyl Malate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Diisostearyl Malate natural?

Mostly. The two branched C18 chains are oleochemical; the small malic-acid core is usually synthetic DL-malic acid from maleic anhydride, so most of the mass is natural origin.

INCI nameDiisostearyl Malate
CAS67763-18-2
FormulaC40H78O5 · 639.0 Da
FunctionEmollient · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockIsostearyl alcohol (from dimer-acid by-product isostearic acid) diesterified…

How we scored it

Two isostearyl fragments C18H37O 538 Da (oleochemical, natural) + malate core C4H2O3 98 Da from petrochemical maleic anhydride → 538 / 636 = 0.85. Fermentation L-malic acid would give 1.00.
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

Isostearyl alcohol (from dimer-acid by-product isostearic acid) diesterified with DL-malic acid; a fermentation-malic grade would score 1.0.

In plain English

A silky emollient ester used to soften skin, made from a branched fatty alcohol and malic acid, an acid naturally found in fruit but usually manufactured synthetically.

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Structure

2D structure of Diisostearyl Malate

bis(16-methylheptadecyl) 2-hydroxybutanedioate

PubChem CID 80276 ↗

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. 2Diisostearyl Malate. PubChem CID 80276. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3DIISOSTEARYL MALATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4DIISOSTEARYL MALATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=DIISOSTEARYL%20MALATE