Database/Skin Conditioning/Palmitoyl Carnitine
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Palmitoyl Carnitine natural?

Mostly. Palmitic acid from palm or coconut oil is natural; commercial L-carnitine is built from petrochemical C4 and trimethylamine precursors, even when the last step is enzymatic.

INCI namePalmitoyl Carnitine
CAS1935-18-8
FormulaC23H45NO4 · 399.6 Da
FunctionSkin Conditioning
FeedstockPalmitic acid (oleochemical) is esterified onto L-carnitine. Industrial…

How we scored it

Palmitoyl C16H31O 239.4 natural; carnitine C7H14NO3 160.2 treated as petrochemical (synthetic butyrobetaine or epichlorohydrin skeleton); 239.4 / 399.6 = 0.60.
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

Palmitic acid (oleochemical) is esterified onto L-carnitine. Industrial L-carnitine is made by microbial hydroxylation of synthetic crotonobetaine or butyrobetaine, or by chemical synthesis; meat-extracted carnitine is not commercial.

In plain English

A fatty-acid ester of carnitine, a vitamin-like amino acid derivative, used as a skin-conditioning ingredient. The palmitic acid comes from palm oil; the carnitine part is made industrially by synthesis or microbial conversion.

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Structure

2D structure of Palmitoyl Carnitine

(3R)-3-hexadecanoyloxy-4-(trimethylazaniumyl)butanoate

PubChem CID 11953816 ↗

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. 2Palmitoyl Carnitine. PubChem CID 11953816. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3PALMITOYL CARNITINE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4PALMITOYL CARNITINE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PALMITOYL%20CARNITINE