Database/Colorant/Pigment Red 57
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Pigment Red 57 natural?

Mostly not. The naphthol and toluene-sulfonic acid building blocks are coal-tar or petroleum aromatics; only the sulfonate group and the two sodium ions are mineral-derived.

INCI namePigment Red 57
CAS5858-81-1
FormulaC18H12N2Na2O6S · 430.3 Da
FunctionColorant
FeedstockMade by diazotising 4-aminotoluene-3-sulfonic acid (toluene-derived) and coupling…

How we scored it

Natural: sulfonate SO3 80.1 + 2 Na 46.0 = 126.0. Petrochemical: azo-naphthoate/toluene core 304.3. 126.0 / 430.3 = 0.29.
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

Made by diazotising 4-aminotoluene-3-sulfonic acid (toluene-derived) and coupling it with 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (naphthalene-derived), then isolating the disodium salt. No natural-origin route is in commercial use.

In plain English

A synthetic red azo colourant used in colour cosmetics. It is built from petroleum- and coal-tar-derived aromatic chemicals and supplied as a sodium salt.

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Structure

2D structure of Pigment Red 57

disodium;2-[(3-carboxy-2-oxidonaphthalen-1-yl)diazenyl]-5-methylbenzenesulfonate

PubChem CID 135487652 ↗

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. 2Pigment Red 57. PubChem CID 135487652. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3PIGMENT RED 57. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4PIGMENT RED 57. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PIGMENT%20RED%2057