Database/Antioxidant/Umbelliferone
100% petroleum · ISO 16128

Is Umbelliferone natural?

No. Umbelliferone occurs in plants, but the ingredient sold to formulators is synthesised from resorcinol, as with coumarin.

INCI nameUmbelliferone
CAS93-35-6
FormulaC9H6O3 · 162.14 Da
FunctionAntioxidant · Humectant
FeedstockPechmann condensation of resorcinol with malic acid in…

How we scored it

Umbelliferone (7-hydroxycoumarin) C9H6O3 162.1 Da: commercial material is made by Pechmann condensation of petrochemical resorcinol with malic acid; isolation from Apiaceae plants is not a commercial source at scale → 0.00. Same reasoning as Coumarin.
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

Pechmann condensation of resorcinol with malic acid in sulfuric acid.

In plain English

A plant compound that can brighten skin tone, found naturally in some fruits and herbs but also made cheaply from petrochemicals; which version is in a product depends on the supplier.

CosIng definition: Umbelliferone is the organic compound that conforms to the formula

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Structure

2D structure of Umbelliferone

7-hydroxychromen-2-one

PubChem CID 5281426 ↗

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. 2Umbelliferone. PubChem CID 5281426. National Center for Biotechnology Information. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ↗
  3. 3UMBELLIFERONE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  4. 4UMBELLIFERONE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=UMBELLIFERONE