Database/Emollient/Methyl Benzoate
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Methyl Benzoate natural?

No. Both benzoic acid and methanol are explicitly petrochemical fragments under this site's convention.

INCI nameMethyl Benzoate
CAS93-58-3
FormulaC8H8O2 · 136.15 Da
FunctionEmollient · Fragrance
FeedstockProduced by esterifying benzoic acid (from toluene oxidation)…

How we scored it

Benzoyl C7H5O 105.1Da (petrochemical) + methoxy CH3O 31.0Da (methanol, petrochemical) → 0/136.2=0.0
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

Produced by esterifying benzoic acid (from toluene oxidation) with methanol (from natural-gas syngas). No natural-origin commercial route.

In plain English

A solvent and fragrance ingredient with a fruity smell. Made by combining benzoic acid and methanol, both manufactured from petrochemical feedstocks.

CosIng definition: Methyl Benzoate is the ester of methyl alcohol and benzoic acid that conforms to the formula:

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Methyl Benzoate

methyl benzoate

PubChem CID 7150 ↗

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. 2Methyl Benzoate. PubChem CID 7150. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3METHYL BENZOATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4METHYL BENZOATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=METHYL%20BENZOATE