By establishing the procedures for sequential deprotections, reaction monitoring, purification, and handling, for the first time, we achieved the total synthesis of the proposed structure for protoaculeine B (2), which is a highly hydrophilic and polycationic amino acid. The NMR and mass spectra and chemical reactivity of the synthetic sample differed from those of natural protoaculeine B, which indicates the necessity for revision of the originally reported structure.

The structure of protoaculeine B, the N-terminal residue of the marine peptide toxin aculeine B, is revised to the cis-1,3-disubstituted tetrahydro-β-carboline framework. We prepared two truncated model compounds that lack a long-chain polyamine using the one-step Pictet–Spengler reaction of tryptophan and compared their NMR, mass spectra, and chemical reactivity with those of the natural protoaculeine B. The synthetic models reproduced the profiles of the natural product well, which confirmed the appropriateness of the structure revision.

The planar structure of poecillastrin C (1) was revised through selective reduction of the ester carbon. The absolute configuration of the β-hydroxyaspartic acid (OHAsp) residue was determined to be d-threo by Marfey's analysis. The acid hydrolysate of the reduction product of 1 liberated (2R,3R)-2-amino-3,4-dihydroxybutanoic acid, demonstrating that the β-carboxyl group in poecillastrin C was esterified. The structures of poecillastrins B-D and 73-deoxychondropsin A were also revised.

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The isolation and structural determination of new marine ladder-frame polyethers, brevisulcatic acids-1 (1) and -4 (2) are reported. Brevisulcatic acids were isolated from the dinoflagellate Karenia brevisulcata, which was identified as the causative species of a major red tide event in New Zealand in 1998. The ether ring composition and a β-hydroxy, γ-methylene valeric acid side chain of 1 and 2 are common, but 2 has a γ-lactone as the 5-membered A-ring while 1 is the seco acid analogue. Compound 2 has structural and bioactivity similarities to brevetoxin A.