Database/Buffering/Guanidine Carbonate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Guanidine Carbonate natural?

Mostly not. Carbonate counter-ion is mineral natural-origin; guanidine is synthesized from ammonia/cyanamide intermediates, treated as petrochemical by analogy to urea.

INCI nameGuanidine Carbonate
CAS593-85-1
FormulaC3H12N6O3 · 180.17 Da
FunctionBuffering · Skin Conditioning
FeedstockGuanidine is industrially made from cyanamide or urea-derived…

How we scored it

Carbonate fragment H2CO3 (62.0 Da, mineral) / total C3H12N6O3 (180.17 Da); two guanidine units (118.1 Da), nitrogen-fixation/cyanamide derived, treated as petrochemical like urea. 62.0/180.17=0.34.
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

Guanidine is industrially made from cyanamide or urea-derived intermediates using natural-gas ammonia, then combined with carbonate. The carbonate ion is mineral; the guanidine cation is synthetic nitrogen chemistry.

In plain English

A salt of guanidine, a nitrogen compound typically synthesized from ammonia-derived intermediates, combined with carbonate. Used as a pH buffer and, in permanent-wave products, as an alkalizing agent.

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Structure

2D structure of Guanidine Carbonate

carbonic acid;bis(guanidine)

PubChem CID 11650 ↗

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. 2Guanidine Carbonate. PubChem CID 11650. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3GUANIDINE CARBONATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4GUANIDINE CARBONATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=GUANIDINE%20CARBONATE