Cytotoxic Cembranes from Indonesian Specimens of the Soft Coral Nephthea sp.

• Main Authors: Dianne M. Tapiolas, Catherine H. Liptrot, Anthony D. Wright, Cherie A. Motti, Hedi Indra Januar, Ekowati Chasanah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2010-07-01
• Series: Marine Drugs
• Subjects: Indonesia; marine natural products; soft coral; Nephthea sp.; anticancer; NMR; cembrane
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2142/

Methanol extracts of two specimens of the soft coral Nephthea sp. collected from the Seribu Islands, Indonesia, were active in an anticancer bioassay. One new (1) and four known diterpenes (2–5) based on the cembrane carbon skeleton were isolated from these extracts, as was arachidonic acid (8). The structures of all compounds were elucidated using NMR, including 1,1-ADEQUATE and 1D gradient selective NOESY where applicable to determine the relative stereochemistry. Spectroscopic data, including 1H and 13C NMR, UV, IR and optical rotations are reported when enough material was available and where this has not been done previously. Inhibition assays employing three cancer cell lines; SF-268 (CNS), MCF-7 (breast), and H460 (lung) were used to guide the isolation of all compounds.