Why the score varies
This ingredient is made commercially by more than one route, and ISO 16128 scores the feedstock actually used. Without a supplier certificate of origin the value cannot be claimed.
| Route | Feedstock | NOI | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| natural d-alpha-tocopherol succinate, ethoxylated | vegetable oil distillate tocopherol + petrochemical succinic acid and ethylene oxide | 0.29 | ~40%, pharma and premium grades | only the 429.7 Da tocopheryl fragment is natural origin |
| synthetic dl-alpha-tocopherol succinate, ethoxylated | petrochemical isophytol tocopherol + petrochemical succinic acid and ethylene oxide | 0.00 | ~60%, bulk economics |
How we scored it
Where it comes from
Vitamin E is esterified with succinic acid, then reacted with about 22 moles of ethylene oxide. The tocopherol is sourced either from vegetable oil deodoriser distillate or synthesised from petrochemical isophytol; the PEG chain is petrochemical in both cases.
In plain English
A water-soluble form of vitamin E, also called Vitamin E TPGS, made by attaching a long chain of ethylene oxide to vitamin E succinate. Used as an antioxidant and solubiliser.
CosIng definition: Butanedioic acid, mono[3,4-dihydro-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecy)-2H-1-benzopyran-6-yl] ester, polymer with oxirane (1:22)
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Structure
1-O-(2-hydroxyethyl) 4-O-[2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-2-(4,8,12-trimethyltridecyl)-3,4-dihydrochromen-6-yl] butanedioate
References
- 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.
- 2Tocophersolan. PubChem CID 71406. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
- 3TOCOPHERSOLAN. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
- 4TOCOPHERSOLAN. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=TOCOPHERSOLAN