N-Acetylmuramic acid

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N-Acetylmuramic acid, or MurNAc, is the ether of lactic acid and N-acetylglucosamine with a chemical formula of C₁₁H₁₉NO₈. It is part of a biopolymer in the bacterial cell wall, built from alternating units of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc), cross-linked with oligopeptides at the lactic acid residue of MurNAc. This layered structure is called peptidoglycan.

Structure of N-acetylmuramic acid (lactic acid in red):

The CAS number of N-acetylmuramic acid is 1114-41-6.

MurNAc is a monosaccharide derivative of N-acetylglucosamine.