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Acetonide protecting group

The acetonide (isopropylidene ketal) protecting group is a cyclic acetal from acetone and a diol, used to protect 1,2- and 1,3-diol hydroxyl pairs; it survives base and is removed by aqueous acid.

Acetonitrile

Acetonitrile (CH3CN), also called methyl cyanide or cyanomethane, is the simplest organic nitrile after hydrogen cyanide, a polar, water-miscible liquid used as an industrial and laboratory solvent and produced as a by-product of acrylonitrile manufacture.

Acetophenazine

Acetophenazine (Tindal, Tindal Maleate) is a discontinued piperazine-substituted phenothiazine antipsychotic, ATC N05AB07, first approved in 1961 by Schering, acting as a D1/D2 receptor blocker.

Acetophenone

Acetophenone, also known as methyl phenyl ketone, is the simplest aromatic ketone, a colorless liquid smelling of orange blossom that is used in fragrances, flavorings, and solvents.

Acetovanillone

Acetovanillone, also called apocynin, is a naturally occurring phenolic ketone first isolated in 1883, known as an NADPH oxidase inhibitor and tested as an inhaled anti-inflammatory asthma drug.

Acetrizoic acid

Acetrizoic acid (urokonic acid, Urokon), 3-acetamido-2,4,6-triiodobenzoic acid, is the first monomeric ionic X-ray contrast agent, synthesized by Wallingford in 1953; nephrotoxic high-osmolar agent, now discontinued.

Acetyl chloride

Acetyl chloride, also called ethanoyl chloride, is the acyl chloride of acetic acid, a fuming liquid used chiefly as an acetylating agent in organic synthesis.

Acetyl esterase

Acetyl esterase (acetyl xylan esterase, EC 3.1.1.72): microbial carbohydrate esterase hydrolyzing acetyl ester bonds on xylan and hemicellulose, releasing acetic acid; families CE1–CE7, CE12, CE16.

Acetyl group

The acetyl group, also called the ethanoyl group, is the univalent acyl group CH3CO– with formula C2H3O, abbreviated Ac; it forms acetyl-CoA in metabolism and acetylates over 80% of human proteins.

Acetyl phosphate

Acetyl phosphate is a mixed anhydride of acetic and phosphoric acids whose hydrolysis releases more energy than ATP, serving bacteria as a phosphoryl donor and signaling molecule.

Acetyl tributyl citrate

Acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC), also called tributyl acetylcitrate, is an ester of citric acid used chiefly as a phthalate-replacement plasticizer in food packaging and pharmaceuticals.

Acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA (acetyl coenzyme A), the thioester of coenzyme A and acetate, is the central two-carbon carrier in metabolism, feeding the citric acid cycle, supplying carbon for fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, and donating acetyl groups for histone and protein acetylation.

Acetyl-CoA biotin carboxyl carrier

Acetyl-CoA biotin carboxyl carrier, known as biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP), is a biotin-bearing protein domain that shuttles a carboxyl group between active sites of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, catalyzing the first committed step of fatty acid synthesis.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC, ACC1/ACC2, ACACA/ACACB) is the biotin-dependent, rate-limiting enzyme converting acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA in fatty acid synthesis, targeted by drugs for NASH, diabetes, and cancer and by ACCase-inhibiting herbicides.

Acetyl-S-ACP:malonate ACP transferase

Acetyl-S-ACP:malonate ACP transferase (EC 2.3.1.187; MdcA, MadA) is a bacterial family II ACP transferase that exchanges acetyl-ACP thioester for malonate, forming malonyl-ACP and acetate, the first step of malonate decarboxylation.

Acetylacetone

Acetylacetone, also called 2,4-pentanedione or pentane-2,4-dione, is the simplest acyclic β-diketone, a colorless liquid that exists in keto and enol forms and is the parent compound of the acetylacetonate chelating ligand.

Acetylcarnitine

Acetylcarnitine, also known as acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC, also sold as ALCAR), is the acetic acid ester of carnitine that buffers excess acetyl-CoA in mitochondria during fatty-acid oxidation.

Acetylcholine

Acetylcholine (ACh), the first neurotransmitter identified, is a choline ester acting at nicotinic ion-channel and muscarinic GPCR receptors in CNS, autonomic, and neuromuscular synapses; degraded by acetylcholinesterase; central to Alzheimer's and schizophrenia drug development.

Acetylcholine receptor

Acetylcholine receptor: cell-surface proteins activated by acetylcholine, divided into ionotropic nicotinic and G-protein-coupled muscarinic (M1-M5) receptors; targets of nicotine, myasthenia gravis antibodies, and the 2024 antipsychotic KarXT.

Acetylcholinesterase

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7), also called acetylcholine hydrolase, is the serine hydrolase that hydrolyzes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to choline and acetic acid at cholinergic synapses; its inhibition underlies Alzheimer's drugs and nerve agents like sarin.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor

An acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChE inhibitor), also called an anticholinesterase, is a drug or toxin that blocks the enzyme breaking down acetylcholine, used in Alzheimer's disease.

Acetylcysteine

Acetylcysteine (N-acetylcysteine, NAC; Mucomyst, Fluimucil, Acetadote) is a sulfhydryl mucolytic drug, patented 1960, and the standard antidote for acetaminophen overdose, dosed 300 mg/kg IV.

Acetyldigitoxin

Acetyldigitoxin (Acylanid, alpha-acetyldigitoxin) is a cardiac glycoside, an acetyl derivative of digitoxin prepared from lanatoside A of Digitalis lanata, used for fast digitalization in heart failure and rate control in atrial arrhythmias; ATC C01AA01, now discontinued.

Acetylene

Acetylene, also known as ethyne, is the simplest alkyne, a colorless and extremely flammable hydrocarbon used as the fuel in oxy-acetylene welding torches and as a chemical building block.

Acetylene reduction assay

The acetylene reduction assay (ARA) estimates nitrogenase activity by incubating a sample with acetylene and measuring the ethylene formed by gas chromatography, a mainstay of nitrogen fixation research since the late 1960s.

Acetylene semihydrogenation

Acetylene semihydrogenation is the selective partial hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene, used industrially to remove trace acetylene that would poison polymerization catalysts, typically over palladium-based catalysts.

Acetylene–ethylene separation

Acetylene–ethylene separation is the purification of ethylene by removing acetylene, which poisons polymerization catalysts; methods include palladium hydrogenation, solvent extraction, and adsorbents such as MOFs.

Acetylenediol

Acetylenediol, also called ethynediol, is an unstable ynol with the formula HO−C≡C−OH and a tautomer of glyoxal, identified in the gas phase in 1986 and in interstellar ice analogs in 2024.

Acetylglutamate kinase family

Acetylglutamate kinase (NAGK, EC 2.7.2.8, argB) family: AAK-family enzymes phosphorylating N-acetylglutamate in arginine biosynthesis; arginine feedback-inhibited, PII-regulated in phototrophs, absent in mammals.

Acetylide

Acetylide is a compound derived from acetylene where one or both hydrogen atoms are replaced by a metal or cationic group; it also names the nucleophilic acetylide anion.