One of the most widely distributed soft coral species, found especially in shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific region, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and also the Arctic, is genus Sacrophyton. The total number of species belonging to it was estimated to be 40. Sarcophyton species are considered to be a reservoir of bioactive natural metabolites. Secondary metabolites isolated from members belonging to this genus show great chemical diversity. They are rich in terpenoids, in particular, cembranoids diterpenes, tetratepenoids, triterpenoids, and ceramide, in addition to steroids, sesquiterpenes, and fatty acids. They showed a broad range of potent biological activities, such as antitumor, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, antifouling, and anti-inflammatory activity. This review presents all isolated secondary metabolites from species of genera Sacrophyton, as well as their reported biological activities covering a period of about two decades (1998–2019). It deals with 481 metabolites, including 323 diterpenes, 39 biscembranoids, 11 sesquiterpenes, 53 polyoxygenated sterols, and 55 miscellaneous and their pharmacological activities.

Xanthones and sesquiterpene derivatives from a marine-derived fungus Scopularipsis sp.

Eight new hydroquinone derivatives, gliomastins A-D (1-4), 9-O-methylgliomastin C (5), acremonin A 1-Ob-D-glucopyranoside (6), gliomastin E 1-O-b-D-glucopyranoside (7), and 6together with seven known analogues were isolated from the marine-derived fungus Gliomastix sp. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR measurements aided by DFT NMR calculations as well as MS data. TDDFT-ECD and OR calculations were performed to determine the absolute configurations of 1 and the aglycones of 6 and 7. Compound 1 features a novel skeleton, biogenetically derived from a Diels-Alder reaction between derivatives of 11 and 13. Compound 2 represents a rare sulfur-containing alkaloid derived from the known hydroquinone 13.Compounds 1, 10 and 12 showed strong cytotoxicity against the L5178Y mouse lymphoma cell line with IC 50 values of 1.8, 1.0 and 1.1 mM, respectively. Compound 3 exhibited moderate antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a MIC value of 12.5 mM.