N-acetylglucosamine is the N-acetyl derivative of glucosamine, commonly the D sugar. Its carbon-2 nitrogen carries an acetyl group, forming an amide; the open-chain reference name is 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose.[ref]
Nomenclature of Carbohydrates (Recommendations 1996) by Alan D. McNaught. Sections 2-Carb-14 and 2-Carb-25: amino-deoxy naming and N-substitution
Compare with . Replacing one nitrogen-bound hydrogen by an acetyl group changes the atom inventory by , giving neutral molecular formula . The nitrogen remains part of the amino sugar derivative even though it is no longer a free amino group.
Hyaluronic acid alternates N-acetylglucosamine with glucuronic acid. In the hyaluronan synthase experiment of P. L. DeAngelis, the activated donor UDP-N-acetylglucosamine provided this sugar type. An ideal segment with 20 complete two-sugar repeats contains 20 residues of each type and 40 sugar residues altogether.[ref]
Enzymological characterization of the Pasteurella multocida hyaluronic acid synthase by P. L. DeAngelis. Abstract: alternating composition and two activated sugar donors
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