Database/Preservative/Sodium Dehydroacetate
Mostly petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Sodium Dehydroacetate natural?

Mostly not. The dehydroacetate ring is made from petrochemical diketene; only the sodium counter-ion is mineral/natural origin.

INCI nameSodium Dehydroacetate
CAS4418-26-2
FormulaC8H7NaO4 · 190.13 Da
FunctionPreservative
FeedstockThe dehydroacetate ring is manufactured from diketene, a…

How we scored it

C8H7NaO4 190.1 Da: Na 23.0 Da natural (mineral) + dehydroacetate C8H7O4 167.1 Da synthetic (diketene route) → 23/190 = 0.12.
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.

How it’s made

Dehydroacetic acid's enol OH + NaOH (neutralisation). Each curved arrow moves one electron pair, and the film ends on the score above.

Where it comes from

The dehydroacetate ring is manufactured from diketene, a petrochemical derivative of acetic acid, then neutralised with sodium. Only the sodium portion of the molecule is natural-origin.

In plain English

A preservative that helps stop mould and yeast spoiling cosmetic products. The sodium salt is made from dehydroacetic acid, an entirely synthetic compound produced from petrochemical intermediates, combined with sodium.

CosIng definition: Sodium Dehydroacetate is the heterocyclic compound that conforms generally to the formula:

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Structure

2D structure of Sodium Dehydroacetate

sodium 3-acetyl-6-methylpyran-3-ide-2,4-dione

PubChem CID 23721629 ↗

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. 2Sodium Dehydroacetate. PubChem CID 23721629. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=SODIUM%20DEHYDROACETATE