AntibioticMech

N-acetyl-L-cysteine

CHEBI:28939 ·resolve ·ANTIVIRAL ·EXACT SEEDED

An N-acetyl-L-amino acid that is the N-acetylated derivative of the natural amino acid L-cysteine. — ChEBI

Classification

Strictly broader compounds or drug classes this molecule belongs to.

• CHEBI:21545 CHEBI:21545
• CHEBI:22198 CHEBI:22198
• CHEBI:83824 CHEBI:83824

Chemical structure

Computed structure properties

Molecular formula	C5H9NO3S
Charge	0
Average mass	163.198 Da
Monoisotopic mass	163.03031 Da
Source	ChEBI
InChIKey	PWKSKIMOESPYIA-BYPYZUCNSA-N

SMILES

CC(=O)N[C@@H](CS)C(=O)O

InChI

InChI=1S/C5H9NO3S/c1-3(7)6-4(2-10)5(8)9/h4,10H,2H2,1H3,(H,6,7)(H,8,9)/t4-/m0/s1

Also called

• acetilcisteina (INN)— chebi
• acetylcysteinum (INN)— chebi
• (2R)-2-acetylamino-3-sulfanylpropanoic acid (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• (R)-2-acetylamino-3-mercaptopropanoic acid (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• (R)-mercapturic acid (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• Acetylcysteine (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• L-acetylcysteine (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• L-α-acetamido-β-mercaptopropionic acid (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• N-ACETYL-L-CYSTEINE (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• N-acetyl-L-(+)-cysteine (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• N-acetylcysteine (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• NAC (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi
• mercapturic acid (EXACT_SYNONYM)— chebi

Cross-references

Equivalent identifiers for this same structure in other resources.

• cas:616-91-1
• drugbank:DB06151
• drugcentral:66
• gmelin:142554
• hmdb:HMDB0001890
• kegg.compound:C06809
• kegg.drug:D00221
• lincs.smallmolecule:LSM-4672
• metacyc.compound:CPD-9175
• pdb-ccd:SC2
• reaxys:1724426
• wikipedia.en:Acetylcysteine

Activity roles

Every antimicrobial role a source asserts for this compound — the unreduced evidence behind its antimicrobial_class.

• CHEBI:36044 CHEBI:36044

Source concepts

Every upstream concept that resolved to this record. The merge is the product: this is what shows ChEBI and CARD are describing the same structure.

Upstream concepts merged into this record

Source	Native ID	Label	Minted CURIE	Version
CHEBI	CHEBI:28939	N-acetyl-L-cysteine	antibioticmech:chebi-aff5a0c12a	2026-08-30

Mechanism summary

Clinical status

APPROVED

Curation history

1. SEEDED_FROM_SOURCES 2026-08-30 · seed_from_sources

   Seeded from data/raw/ inventories (CHEBI)

2. RESEEDED_FROM_SOURCES 2026-08-30 · seed_from_sources

   Re-seeded from updated data/raw/ inventories

3. RESEEDED_FROM_SOURCES 2026-08-30 · seed_from_sources

   Re-seeded from updated data/raw/ inventories

4. RESEEDED_FROM_SOURCES 2026-08-31 · seed_from_sources

   Re-seeded from updated data/raw/ inventories

5. RESEEDED_FROM_SOURCES 2026-08-31 · seed_from_sources

   Re-seeded from updated data/raw/ inventories

Provenance

Seeded by scripts/seed_from_sources.py from the committed inventories in data/raw/. View the record.