[dihydrolipoyllysine-residue acetyltransferase]-(R)-N⁶-lipoyl-L-lysine + H⁺ + pyruvate --> [dihydrolipoyllysine-residue acetyltransferase]-(R)-N⁶-(S8-acetyldihydrolipoyl)-L-lysine + CO₂ (according to UniProt)

Pyruvate [dihydrolipoyllysine-residue acetyltransferase] lipoyllysine = [dihydrolipoyllysine-residue acetyltransferase] S-acetyldihydrolipoyllysine CO₂ (according to Swiss-Prot)