Database/Perfuming/Skatole
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Skatole natural?

No. No significant commercial essential-oil isolation route exists; industrial skatole is made from petrochemical aromatic feedstocks.

INCI nameSkatole
CAS83-34-1
FormulaC9H9N · 131.17 Da
FunctionPerfuming
FeedstockProduced synthetically via indole-type chemistry from petrochemical feedstocks.…

How we scored it

3-Methylindole; commercial perfumery-grade material is synthesised from petrochemical aniline/indole-route feedstocks, not isolated from essential oils.
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 via indole-type chemistry from petrochemical feedstocks. Trace natural occurrence (e.g. in civet, some plants) is not a commercial cosmetic-ingredient source.

In plain English

A perfume ingredient with an intense, animalic smell used in tiny amounts to add depth to floral fragrances; it is made synthetically rather than from natural sources.

Natural alternatives with the same function

Structure

2D structure of Skatole

3-methyl-1H-indole

PubChem CID 6736 ↗

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. 2Skatole. PubChem CID 6736. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SKATOLE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SKATOLE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SKATOLE