Novel Biobased Multifunctional Emollients for Cosmetic Applications: Toward the Ingredient-List Reduction

The use of several ingredients in cosmetic formulations can often result in long ingredient lists, which can be daunting for consumers. While each of these particular ingredients serves a purpose, some are petroleum-based and may have adverse effects on the environment and human health. Ferulic acid, a p-hydroxycinnamic acid present in numerous agro-industrial byproducts, exhibits antimicrobial, antioxidant, and UV-filtering properties. In this work, ferulic acid was functionalized through chemoenzymatic reaction steps (80 to 93% isolated yields) applying green chemistry principles, by using various natural fatty alcohols. The resulting compounds have demonstrated good emollient properties through physicochemical and spreading evaluations. Two green metrics (Mass Intensity and Ecoscale) were used to assess the synthesis of these novel emollients, which were found to have a very low environmental impact. The findings of this study could provide a novel solution for multifunctional, biobased ingredients in cosmetic formulations while reducing the environmental impact of the products.