Two new peptides, stylissamides G
and H, were isolated from extracts
of a sample of Stylissa caribica collected in deep
waters of the Caribbean Sea. A single sample of S. caribica among a collection of 10 samples that were examined by LC-MS appeared
to be a different chemotype from the others in that it lacked the
familiar pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole alkaloids, stevensine and oroidin,
and contained peptides of the stylissamide class. The structures of
the title compounds were solved by integrated analysis of the MS and
NMR spectra and chemical degradation. The solution conformation of
stylissamide G was briefly examined by electronic circular dichroism
and temperature-dependent 1H NMR chemical shifts of amide
NH signals, which supported a conformationally rigid macrocycle.