[MBA_in_Search]

Hello,

I have zero knowledge of chemistry, so forgive me if this question sounds ignorant to you. However, I would be very grateful for any information that you could offer.

My question relates to "benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol", it is a UV absorber (also referred to as photostabilizer), a popular ingredient used in consumer products to prevent color degradation of the products due to light exposure over time.

Could anyone please let me know if this substance is natural/organic or synthetic?

Having done some rudimentary research, most source allude to UV absorbers as being natural/organic but I did not see an explicit reference to benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol specifically.

Will be grateful for any informed responses.

 

[Arkcon]

OK, we like to help people learn on this forum, and we like to learn things ourselves.  You've used two terms:   natural/organic, and synthetic.  What is the difference between these two?  Do you have a defined definition for each?  If not, what do they mean to you?  And how do you usually find out under what category a substance is?

[MBA_in_Search]

OK, we like to help people learn on this forum, and we like to learn things ourselves.  You've used two terms:   natural/organic, and synthetic.  What is the difference between these two?  Do you have a defined definition for each?  If not, what do they mean to you?  And how do you usually find out under what category a substance is?

Synthetic - prepared or made artificially
Organic - matter that has come from a once-living organism;

[Arkcon]

Synthetic - prepared or made artificially
Organic - matter that has come from a once-living organism;

I understand all of those words, but I think they're too non-specific for me to give a useful answer.

How do you get "matter" from a once living organism?  Are we talking something like hair from an Angora rabbit, carefully brushed off as it shed and spun into yarn?  Because I can practically guarantee no life from on this planet sheds benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol.  Maybe some plants do produce weaping tears of p-cresol, but we usually still chemically process it, at least to get the wood and dead bugs out.  Would that still count?

And something that has a component that is natural that is then separately linked to another natural component in a laboratory counts as which?  This is so common, we have to identify it, or maybe come up with a new term.

I've noticed before, that Tom's of Main brand natural toothpaste listed all of its ingredients as natural, even the fluoride additive, at the time, was calcium fluoride, naturally mined.  That seemed a little silly to me -- a rock is a rock, and that's what calcium fluoride is.

For more examples, how does everything on this page here look to you:

http://www.tomsofmaine.com/products/ingredient-list

[MBA_in_Search]

Synthetic - prepared or made artificially
Organic - matter that has come from a once-living organism;

Because I can practically guarantee no life from on this planet sheds benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol.

Thank you. To give context to my thinking process, some oils used in cosmetics (e.g. jojoba oil or castor oil) are taken from plants, hence I can call those substances organic. On the other hand, a substance like Paraffinum Liquidum (mineral oil, also used in cosmetics) is a derivative of crude oil i.e. produced/manufactured synthetically. 

To refine my question towards your demanding (justifiably so) specs:

is benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol manufactured from sub-compounds?

if no life form sheds benzotriazolyl dodecyl p-cresol, does this compound consist of substances shed by living organisms?

thank you for your pointers.

[Arkcon]

Possibly only p-cresol is organic, and even that's unlikely.  So, petroleum products aren't organic?  That's news to me, crude oil starts as living things, and heat and pressure under the earth changed their form, but they're still organic compounds, as we generally define them.

[MBA_in_Search]

Possibly only p-cresol is organic, and even that's unlikely.  So, petroleum products aren't organic?  That's news to me, crude oil starts as living things, and heat and pressure under the earth changed their form, but they're still organic compounds, as we generally define them.

Thank you very much. This answers my question. No photostabilizers in the product I am developing!