Studies of Australian soft corals. XVIII. Further cembranoid diterpenes from soft corals of the genus Sarcophyton

Abstract

The structure of two new cembranoid diterpenes, (E,E,E)-7,8-epoxy-1- isopropyl-4,8,12-trimethylcyclotetradeca-1,3,11-triene (2) and (E,E,E)- 7,8-epoxy-1-isopropenyl-4,8,12-trimethylcyclotetradeca-1,3,11-triene (4), are reported. These two diterpenes (2) and (4) co-occur with the known cembranoid diterpene alcohol (3), sarcophytoxide (5) and sarcophine (6) in the same specimen; this enables a scheme for the biological interconversions of isoneocembrane A (1) to sarcophine (6) to be suggested.