acetylcoenzyme A

acetylcoenzyme A /əsē′til·kō·en″zīm, as′ətil-/ , a biomolecule that carries an activated form of the 2-carbon acetyl unit found in the course of several important metabolic processes. The formation of acetylcoenzyme A is the critical intermediate step between anaerobic glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. Also called acetyl-CoA.