Database/Fragrance/Ethyl Hydroxypyrone
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Ethyl Hydroxypyrone natural?

Mostly. The pyranone ring carbons come from furfural made from corncob or bagasse pentosans (natural), while the ethyl group comes from an ethyl halide Grignard reagent and counts as petrochemical.

INCI nameEthyl Hydroxypyrone
CAS4940-11-8
FormulaC7H8O3 · 140.14 Da
FunctionFragrance · Perfuming
FeedstockDominant route: furfural reacts with ethylmagnesium halide to…

How we scored it

C7H8O3 140.1: ethyl group C2H5 29.1 petrochemical (ethyl Grignard); remaining furan-derived ring skeleton 111.1 natural (furfural); 111.1/140.1 = 0.79.
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: furfural reacts with ethylmagnesium halide to give an ethyl furfuryl alcohol, which is oxidatively ring-expanded with chlorine and hydrolysed. No alternative route is commercially significant.

In plain English

Better known as ethyl maltol, a sweet caramel- and candy-floss-smelling flavour and fragrance compound that does not occur in nature. It is made in a factory from furfural, a chemical obtained from corncobs and other plant waste, plus an ethyl group.

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Structure

2D structure of Ethyl Hydroxypyrone

2-ethyl-3-hydroxypyran-4-one

PubChem CID 21059 ↗

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. 2Ethyl Hydroxypyrone. PubChem CID 21059. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ETHYL HYDROXYPYRONE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ETHYL HYDROXYPYRONE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ETHYL%20HYDROXYPYRONE