N-Acetylmuramic acid

"N"-Acetylmuramic acid, "NAM" or MurNAc, is the addition of phosphoenolpyruvate and "N"-acetylglucosamine with the chemical formula . It is a key builder of peptidoglycan in the bacterial cell wall, which is built from alternating units of "N"-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and "N"-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc), cross-linked by oligopeptides at the lactic acid residue of MurNAc. 
MurNAc is a monosaccharide derivative of "N"-acetylglucosamine.
Formation of NAM.
NAM is a combination of N-acetylglucosamine and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). This addition happens exclusively in the cell cytoplasm. 
Clinical significance.
"N"-Acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) is part of the peptidoglycan polymer of bacterial cell walls. MurNAc is covalently linked to "N"-acetylglucosamine and may also be linked through the hydroxyl on carbon number 4 to the carbon of L-alanine. A pentapeptide composed of L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl-L-lysyl-D-alanyl-D-alanine is added to the MurNAc in the process of making the peptidoglycan strands of the cell wall.
Synthesis is inhibited by fosfomycin.
NAG and NAM cross-linking can be inhibited by antibiotics to inhibit pathogens from growing within the body. Therefore, both NAG and NAM are valuable polymers in medicinal research.