Editing Acetyl group (section)

==Acetylation==
Acetylation is the chemical reaction known as "ethanoylation" in the IUPAC nomenclature. It depicts a reactionary process that injects an acetyl functional group into a chemical compound. The opposite reaction is called "'''de'''acetylation", and this is the '''removal''' of the acetyl group.  Therefore, the process of adding an acetyl group into a molecule is called [[acetylation]]. An example of an acetylation reaction is the conversion of [[glycine]] to [[N-acetylglycine|''N''-acetylglycine]]:<ref>{{OrgSynth|first1=R. M.|last1=Herbst|first2=D.|last2=Shemin|title=Acetylglycine|collvol=2|collvolpages=11|year=1943|prep=CV2P0011}}</ref>
:{{chem2 | H2NCH2CO2H  +  (CH3CO)2O -> CH3C(O)NHCH2CO2H  +  CH3CO2H }}

=== In biology ===
[[Enzyme]]s which perform acetylation on proteins or other biomolecules are known as [[acetyltransferase]]s. In biological organisms, acetyl groups are commonly transferred from [[acetyl-CoA]] to other organic molecules. Acetyl-CoA is an intermediate in the biological synthesis and in the breakdown of many organic molecules. Acetyl-CoA is also created during the second stage of cellular respiration ([[pyruvate decarboxylation]]) by the action of [[pyruvate dehydrogenase]] on [[pyruvic acid]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Patel |first=Mulchand |date=June 13, 2014 |title=The Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complexes: Structure-based Function and Regulation |journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry |volume=289 |issue=24 |pages=16615–16623 |doi=10.1074/jbc.R114.563148 |doi-access=free |pmid=24798336 |pmc=4059105 }}</ref>

[[Protein]]s are often modified via acetylation, for various purposes. For example, acetylation of [[histone]]s by [[Histone acetyltransferase|histone acetyltransferases (HATs)]] results in an expansion of local [[chromatin]] structure, allowing [[Transcription (genetics)|transcription]] to occur by enabling [[RNA polymerase]] to access [[DNA]]. However, removal of the acetyl group by [[histone deacetylase]]s (HDACs) condenses the local chromatin structure, thereby preventing transcription.<ref>{{cite book|first1=David L.|last1=Nelson |first2=Michael M.|last2=Cox|title=Lehninger principles of biochemistry|date=2000|publisher=Worth Publishers|location=New York|isbn=1-57259-153-6|edition=3rd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/lehningerprincip01lehn}}</ref>

===In synthetic organic and pharmaceutical chemistry===
[[Acetylation]] can be achieved by chemists using a variety of methods, most commonly with the use of [[acetic anhydride]] or [[acetyl chloride]], often in the presence of a tertiary or aromatic [[amine]] [[base (chemistry)|base]].