Definition
US FDA substance register · UNII QJH0DSQ3SG · registered name VIOLACEIN · single chemical substance
Violacein is a member of the class of hydroxyindoles resulting from the formal oxidative coupling between the 3-position of 1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one and the 3-position of 1,3-dihydro-2H-pyrrol-2-one, which is substituted at the 5 position by a 5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl group, where the newly-formed double bond has E configuration. It is a purple chromobacterial pigment that has antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoan, and anticancer properties. It has a role as an antibacterial agent, an antineoplastic agent, an antifungal agent, an apoptosis inducer and a bacterial metabolite. It is a member of pyrroles, a member of oxindoles, an olefinic compound and a member of hydroxyindoles. It is functionally related to a proviolacein.
Source: PubChem
Cosmetic roles
More data — names, identifiers, properties, test records, literature
Names & identifiers
- CAS No.chemical registry number
- 548-54-9
- DTXSIDUS EPA chemical ID
- DTXSID001028415
- DTXCIDUS EPA compound ID
- DTXCID401513985
- IUPAC
- (3E)-3-[5-(5-Hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrrol-3-ylidene]-1,3-dihydro-2H-indol-2-one
- Molecular formula
- C20H13N3O3
- Molecular weight
- 343.342 g/mol
What products actually use it for
What the 3 products reported to the US EPA with this ingredient use it for. Products outside cosmetics are included, so the top few rows are its main uses.
- Biocide1
- Antioxidant1
- Dye1
Source: US EPA CompTox dashboard
Related literature
- Violacein: A Promising Bacterial Secondary Metabolite · 2022
- In silico Screening of Violacein as an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor · 2022
- Violacein: a natural antibacterial agent empowered by film-forming sprays for topical applications · 2025
- Genome sequencing and multifaceted taxonomic analysis of novel strains of violacein-producing bacteria and non-violacein-producing close relatives · 2023
- Comparative analysis of stability and biological activities of violacein and starch capped silver nanoparticles · 2017
Linked databases 13
- ChEBI
- ChEMBL
- EU CosIng ingredient list 2
- Korea Cosmetic Association ingredient dictionary
- MFDS (Korea) cosmetic ingredient register 2
- PubChem
- Tlooto literature search 2 3 4 5
- UniChem cross-reference IDs
- US EPA CompTox dashboard 2
- US EPA DSSTox chemical database
- US FDA substance registration (GSRS)
- US FDA Unique Ingredient Identifier (UNII)
- Wikidata 2