Database/Fragrance/Hexanal
Route-dependent · ISO 16128

Is Hexanal natural?

It depends. A green 'cut grass' aldehyde sold both as a natural enzymatic product and as a petrochemical.

INCI nameHexanal
CAS66-25-1
FormulaC6H12O · 100.16 Da
FunctionFragrance
FeedstockVegetable-oil linoleic acid (natural route) or petrochemical pentene…

Why the score varies

This ingredient is made commercially by more than one route, and ISO 16128 scores the feedstock actually used. Without a supplier certificate of origin the value cannot be claimed.

RouteFeedstockNOIShareNotes
natural enzymatic routelinoleic acid from vegetable oil cleaved by lipoxygenase/hydroperoxide lyase (natural green-note hexanal)1.00natural flavour and fragrance gradesevery carbon from a natural fatty acid
oxo synthesishydroformylation of petrochemical 1-pentene / oxidation of hexanol0.00bulk gradesno natural-origin atoms
Ask your supplier. A batch-specific certificate of origin or bio-based carbon test (ASTM D6866) settles which route applies.

How we scored it

Whole-molecule routes: enzymatic cleavage of natural linoleic acid = 1.0; petrochemical oxo route = 0.0. Two commercial routes, so route-dependent.
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

Vegetable-oil linoleic acid (natural route) or petrochemical pentene (oxo route).

In plain English

A green, grassy-smelling fragrance ingredient. It is mostly manufactured synthetically from petrochemical alcohol, though a smaller natural version is made by processing vegetable oil.

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Structure

2D structure of Hexanal

hexanal

PubChem CID 6184 ↗

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. 2Hexanal. PubChem CID 6184. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3HEXANAL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4HEXANAL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=HEXANAL