Four new hippurins, (22S,24S)-24-methyl-22,25-epoxyfurost-5-ene-3 -20 -diol (1), (22R,24S)-24-methyl-22,25-epoxyfurost-5-ene (2) and their respective 3 -acetates (3 and 4), have been isolated for the first time from the Indian Ocean soft coral Sarcophyton crassocaule.

Chemical examination of the soft coral species Sinularia intacta collected from the Moyli Island of the Gulf of Mannar of the Indian Ocean resulted in the isolation of three new sesquiterpenoids, 1, 2, and 3, along with the known compounds 8,9-secoafricanane-8,9-dione (5), Δ9(15)-africanene (6), 1-O-hexadecyl-2,3-dihexadecanoylglycerol, batyl alcohol, (24R)-24-methylcholesterol, gorgosterol, a mixture of two monohydroxy-4α-methyl sterols, 4α,24-dimethylcholestan-3β-ol, 4α,24ξ-dimethyl-23ξ-ethylcholestan-3β-ol, a mixture of ceramides, and ergost-24(28)-ene-3β,5α,6β-triol. The structures of the new sesquiterpenoids were established as (9R)-africanane-9,15-diol (1), (9R)-9-methoxyafricanan-15-ol (2), and (9S)-africanane-9,15-diol-15-monoacetate (3) by a study of their spectral data and partial synthesis.

Two New Lobane Derivatives from the Soft Coral Lobophytum pauciflorum of the Havelock Island of the Indian Ocean. --(ANJANEYULU, A. S. R.; RAO, G. V.; RAJU, K. V. S.; MURTHY, M. V. R. K.; Indian J.

The rare prostaglandin methyl (5Z)-9,15-dioxoprosta-5, 8(12)-dien-1-oate (1), hitherto unreported as a natural product, has been isolated from the Indian Ocean soft coral Sarcophyton crassocaule. Its structure was elucidated using detailed spectral ((1)H and (13)C NMR, DEPT, H-H COSY, C-H COSY, HRMS, and HMBC) analysis.