Database/Hair Conditioning/Potassium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Potassium Lauroyl Sarcosinate natural?

Mostly. The lauric acid chain and the potassium counter-ion are natural; the sarcosine (N-methylglycine) unit is made industrially from chloroacetic acid and methylamine, so it is petrochemical. Same method as Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate.

INCI namePotassium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
CAS38932-32-0
FormulaC15H28KNO3 · 309.49 Da
FunctionHair Conditioning · Cleansing Surfactant
FeedstockLauroyl chloride from coconut or palm kernel lauric…

How we scored it

Lauroyl C12H23O 183.3 Da (coconut/palm kernel, natural) + K 39.1 Da (mineral) = 222.4 Da; sarcosinate residue C3H5NO2 87.1 Da (chloroacetic acid + methylamine, petrochemical); total C15H28KNO3 309.5 Da → 0.72.
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

Lauroyl chloride from coconut or palm kernel lauric acid condensed with synthetic sodium sarcosinate, neutralised with potassium hydroxide.

In plain English

A gentle coconut-derived cleansing ingredient combined with a natural amino-acid derivative and potassium.

CosIng definition: Potassium salt of lauroyl sarcosine

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Structure

2D structure of Potassium Lauroyl Sarcosinate

potassium 2-[dodecanoyl(methyl)amino]acetate

PubChem CID 23679012 ↗

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. 2Potassium Lauroyl Sarcosinate. PubChem CID 23679012. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3POTASSIUM LAUROYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4POTASSIUM LAUROYL SARCOSINATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=POTASSIUM%20LAUROYL%20SARCOSINATE