The palmitic acid moiety on the arbutin (sugar alcohol derivative) molecule is likely to change the chemical properties of arbutin towards a hydrophobic whitening agent. Moreover, the modified whitening agent might show emulsifier properties, which even further increases its application in the cosmetic industries. The use of supercritical carbon dioxide as the reaction medium for the acylation of arbutin may provide new opportunities to develop green industrial processes for novel phenol glycoside derivative production.however,