Database/Antimicrobial/o-Cymen-5-ol
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is o-Cymen-5-ol natural?

No. Industrially made by alkylating m-cresol with propylene, both petrochemical phenol and olefin feedstocks, not plant-extracted.

INCI nameo-Cymen-5-ol
CAS3228-02-2
FormulaC10H14O · 150.22 Da
FunctionAntimicrobial · Deodorant
FeedstockProduced synthetically by Friedel-Crafts alkylation of meta-cresol with…

How we scored it

Substituted phenol (isopropyl-methylphenol); phenol derivatives are petrochemical regardless of the thymol-like structure.
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 synthetically by Friedel-Crafts alkylation of meta-cresol with propylene, both petroleum-derived. Not commercially extracted from thyme despite being a thymol isomer.

In plain English

A synthetic preservative and deodorant ingredient related to thymol but made in a factory from petroleum-based building blocks, not extracted from plants. Used to control odor-causing bacteria.

CosIng definition: o-Cymen-5-ol is the substituted phenol that conforms to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of o-Cymen-5-ol

3-methyl-4-propan-2-ylphenol

PubChem CID 18597 ↗

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. 2o-Cymen-5-ol. PubChem CID 18597. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3O-CYMEN-5-OL. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4O-CYMEN-5-OL. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=O-CYMEN-5-OL