Database/Perfuming/Ethyl Salicylate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Ethyl Salicylate natural?

Mostly not. Salicylic acid is explicitly petrochemical by this site's convention; ethanol is typically fermentation-derived and natural.

INCI nameEthyl Salicylate
CAS118-61-6
FormulaC9H10O3 · 166.17 Da
FunctionPerfuming
FeedstockSalicylic acid is synthesised from phenol via the…

How we scored it

Salicyloyl C7H5O2 121.1Da (petrochemical) + ethoxy C2H5O 45.1Da (fermentation ethanol, natural) = 166.2 → 45.1/166.2=0.27
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

Salicylic acid is synthesised from phenol via the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction. Ethanol is predominantly fermentation-derived from corn or sugarcane.

In plain English

A fragrance ester with a sweet, wintergreen-like odor. Combines salicylic acid, made synthetically from phenol, with ethanol, which is usually fermented from plant sugars.

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Structure

2D structure of Ethyl Salicylate

ethyl 2-hydroxybenzoate

PubChem CID 8365 ↗

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 Salicylate. PubChem CID 8365. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3ETHYL SALICYLATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4ETHYL SALICYLATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=ETHYL%20SALICYLATE