Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Coco-betaine vs. Cocamidopropyl Betaine

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  • Coco-betaine vs. Cocamidopropyl Betaine

    Posted by thebrain on December 11, 2015 at 3:45 am

    OK, so I hope this isn’t a stupid newbie question, but I can’t seem to find a clear answer on this: What, if any, difference is there between these? They have different CAS registration numbers which leads me to believe that they are different, but I’ve read many articles where they’ll in one breath talk about cocamidopropyl betaine, and in the next refer to it as “coco betaine”.

    RobertG replied 8 years, 3 months ago 5 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 14, 2015 at 3:42 pm
    Two different chemical structures, “el seso”, thus the two C.A.S. numbers. The CAPB is the Zwitterionic form of the amido-amine alkyl cut, where the coco-betaine is formed from the straight monoalkyl-amine derived from coconut oil (mostly C14, C16, C18) I trust this helps?
  • thebrain

    Member
    December 14, 2015 at 11:59 pm

    @chemicalmatt: Yes, your response is very helpful, thank you. So, is “coco betaine” CAPB or “coco-betaine”? I often hear CAPB (cocamidopropyl betaine) mixed together with coco betaine, which is really confusing.

  • david

    Member
    December 15, 2015 at 1:05 am
    If you stick to the chemistry it is not confusing.
    coco betaine is cocamidopropyl betaine minus the “-amidopropyl” part of the molecule.
  • ozgirl

    Member
    December 15, 2015 at 2:04 am

    I think the confusion comes from people being lazy and just leaving out part of the word.

    If I want to shorten the name I usually just say CAP Betaine to help avoid confusion.

    If in doubt when purchasing materials ask for the INCI name and CAS number.

  • thebrain

    Member
    December 15, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    @ozgirl: I agree, I think it’s people being lazy. I asked my supplier for coco-betaine and they sent me cocamidopropyl betaine. I had to call and explain that I was looking for a different CAS number. They shorten cocamidopropyl betaine to COAB and coco-betaine to CB.

    Anyway, thanks everyone for your input.
  • RobertG

    Member
    December 22, 2015 at 3:26 am

    They’d better get this straight, because both materials are used in toiletries, so the context isn’t going to tell you one or the other.

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