Acetylesterase

In enzymology, an acetylesterase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * an acetic ester + H2O $$\rightleftharpoons$$ an alcohol + acetate

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are acetic ester and H2O, whereas its two products are alcohol and acetate.

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, specifically those acting on carboxylic ester bonds. The systematic name of this enzyme class is acetic-ester acetylhydrolase. Other names in common use include C-esterase (in animal tissues), acetic ester hydrolase, chloroesterase, p-nitrophenyl acetate esterase, and Citrus acetylesterase.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 3 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , and.