2,3-BUTANEDIOL

📋 Quick facts

Description: 2,3-BUTANEDIOL — FRAGRANCE, HUMECTANT, SKIN CONDITIONING, SOLVENT.

All Functions: FRAGRANCE, HUMECTANT, SKIN CONDITIONING, SOLVENT

Quick Facts:

• Category: humectant

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• 2,3-Butanediol is used in cosmetics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food industries
• It can be produced through fermentation using renewable resources like glucose and xylose, as an alternative to petroleum-based production
• The ingredient has potential applications beyond skincare, including rubber, fuels, and polymer production
• Industrial production is still developing, with cost reduction being a major focus for widespread commercial use

⚗️ Chemical Overview

Butane-2,3-diol is a butanediol in which hydroxylation is at C-2 and C-3. It is a glycol, a secondary alcohol and a butanediol. The Panel also concluded that the available data are insufficient to make a determination that … 2,3-Butanediol … is safe under the intended conditions of use in cosmetic formulations. butane-2,3-diol has been reported in Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces xanthophaeus with data available.

Source(s): Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), LOTUS – the natural products occurrence database, ChEBI, via PubChem

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

2,3-Butanediol (often abbreviated as 2,3-BD or BDO) is a small organic molecule with applications across multiple industries. Here’s what the research tells us about this ingredient:

#1: Cosmetic and Industrial Uses (J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol, 2019; Biotechnol Adv, 2022; Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2018; BMC Microbiol, 2022): The ingredient is recognized as having “great potential” for use in cosmetics, alongside chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food industries. While these sources confirm its cosmetic applications, they don’t specify particular skincare benefits or mechanisms of action in topical products—they focus primarily on production and industrial potential. #2: Bio-Based Production as an Alternative (J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol, 2019; Biotechnol Rep (Amst), 2020): Rather than being synthesized from petroleum, 2,3-butanediol can be produced through fermentation using renewable feedstocks like glucose, xylose, and glycerol.

This bio-based approach is considered a more sustainable alternative to traditional chemical synthesis, though the sources note that current production methods remain expensive compared to petroleum-based processes. #3: Production Challenges Still Being Addressed (Biotechnol Adv, 2022; Biotechnol Rep (Amst), 2020): The commercialization of 2,3-butanediol remains limited by production costs and the need for improved fermentation efficiency. The research indicates that widespread industrial use requires “utilization of crude renewable resources” and “development of sustainable purification or conversion technologies”—suggesting the ingredient is still in development stages for large-scale commercial skincare use. Importantly, none of these sources provide specific claims about how 2,3-butanediol functions in skincare formulations, such as whether it hydrates skin, acts as a preservative, improves texture, or delivers other consumer-facing benefits.

The research focuses on production methods and industrial applications rather than topical efficacy in finished skincare products.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Song CW et al. (2019). Microbial production of 2,3-butanediol for industrial applications. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol.
• Maina S et al. (2022). Prospects on bio-based 2,3-butanediol and acetoin production: Recent progress and advances. Biotechnol Adv.
• Dias BDC et al. (2018). 2,3-Butanediol production by the non-pathogenic bacterium Paenibacillus brasilensis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol.
• Keo-Oudone C et al. (2022). Highly efficient production of 2,3-butanediol from xylose and glucose by newly isolated thermotolerant Cronobacter sakazakii. BMC Microbiol.
• Hakizimana O et al. (2020). The current strategies and parameters for the enhanced microbial production of 2,3-butanediol. Biotechnol Rep (Amst).

🧴 Products Containing 2,3-BUTANEDIOL

• sephora
• Love Jojo Gel d’aloe Vera
• Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 6% Mandelic Acid + 2% Lactic Acid Liquid Exfoliant