Database/Hair Waving Or Straightening/Glyceryl Thioglycolate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Glyceryl Thioglycolate natural?

Mostly. Glycerin backbone is natural; the thioglycolate ester group derives from petrochemical chloroacetic acid, giving a roughly half-natural ester.

INCI nameGlyceryl Thioglycolate
CAS30618-84-9
FormulaC5H10O4S · 166.20 Da
FunctionHair Waving Or Straightening
FeedstockEsterification of natural glycerin with thioglycolic acid (from…

How we scored it

Glyceryl fragment C3H7O3 91Da natural (glycerin); thioglycolyl fragment C2H3OS 75Da petrochemical (chloroacetic acid route) -> 91/166 = 0.55.
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

Esterification of natural glycerin with thioglycolic acid (from petrochemical chloroacetic acid and sodium hydrosulfide). Used as a milder perming/waving agent than the free acid.

In plain English

A gentler alternative to thioglycolic acid used in perms and hair-straightening. About half its weight is natural glycerin; the reactive thiol part is made from petrochemical chemistry.

CosIng definition: Mercaptoacetic acid, monoester with propane-1,2,3-triol

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Structure

2D structure of Glyceryl Thioglycolate

2,3-dihydroxypropyl 2-sulfanylacetate

PubChem CID 3034372 ↗

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. 2Glyceryl Thioglycolate. PubChem CID 3034372. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3GLYCERYL THIOGLYCOLATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4GLYCERYL THIOGLYCOLATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=GLYCERYL%20THIOGLYCOLATE