Sixteen new diterpenoids, representative of the asbestinane skeletal class, have been isolated from shallow water colonies of the Caribbean gorgonian octocoral Briareum asbestinum. The structures of these secondary metabolites, named asbestinin-11 [1], asbestinin-12 [3], asbestinin-13 [4], asbestinin-14 [5], asbestinin-15 [7], asbestinin-16 [8], asbestinin-17 [9], asbestinin-18 [10], asbestinin-19 [11], asbestinin-20 [12], asbestinin-21 [13], asbestinin-22 [14], asbestinin-23 [15], 11-acetoxy-4-deoxyasbestinin E [16], 11-acetoxy-4-deoxyasbestinin F [17] and 4-deoxyasbestinin G [18], were defined by chemical and spectroscopic methods. These specimens of B. asbestinum, collected in Puerto Rico, yielded almost exclusively diterpenoids possessing the asbestinane carbon skeleton thus suggesting minor biosynthetic variations for this gorgonian. In this paper, we also revise the structures of the known asbestinin-6 and asbestinin-7 to asbestinanes 2 and 6, respectively.

Two new cytotoxic antitumor diterpenoids of the cembrane class, named 14-deoxycrassin (3) and pseudoplexaurol (4), have been isolated from the Caribbean gorgonian octocoral Pseudoplexaura porosa. The structure of lactone 3, possessing the infrequently encountered alpha-methylene-delta-lactone ring, has been established from spectral and chemical data and that of alcohol 4 has been established from spectral data.

No abstract

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.