Simalikalactone D, a Potential Anticancer Compound from , an Endemic Plant of Puerto Rico.

Species of the genus have been studied because of their antimalarial and antileukemic activities. A group of oxygenated terpenes called quassinoids have been isolated from species of the genus, and are responsible for its therapeutic properties. We hypothesized that , an endemic plant from Puerto Rico, is a natural source rich in quassinoid compounds with anticancer activity.

Corallolides A and B: bioactive diterpenes featuring a novel carbon skeleton.

Corallolides A (1) and B (2) are naturally occurring diterpenes isolated from the Caribbean gorgonian octocoral Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata collected near Providencia Island, Colombia. Their tricyclic structures are based on a uniquely substituted bicyclo[9.2.

Bioactive compounds from the gorgonian Briareum polyanthes. Correction of the structures of four asbestinane-type diterpenes.

Our extended chemical investigation of the crude MeOH-CHCl3 extract of the gorgonian octocoral Briareum polyanthes from Puerto Rico has led to the isolation of three eunicellin-type diterpenoids, 1-3, along with five (4-8) diterpenoids of the asbestinane-type and one (9) of the briarane-type of polycyclized diterpenes. The structures and relative stereochemistry of the new compounds 1-9 were established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis (1H NMR, 13C NMR, HMQC, HMBC, NOESY). The biological activity of these compounds against pathogenic microbes responsible for various human infectious diseases was investigated.

Caucanolides A-F, unusual antiplasmodial constituents from a colombian collection of the gorgonian coral Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata.

Six new diterpenoids, caucanolides A-F (1-6), have been isolated from extracts of the gorgonian octocoral Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata collected near the Colombian Southwestern Caribbean Sea. The structures of 1-6 were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectroscopic data. The caucanolides showed in vitro antiplasmodial activity against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Differential inhibition of nicotine- and acetylcholine-evoked currents through alpha4beta2 neuronal nicotinic receptors by tobacco cembranoids in Xenopus oocytes.

In tobacco, there are two types of compounds that interact with neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nnAChRs) in the brain. The first is the addictive component of tobacco and an agonist of these receptors, nicotine. The second are cyclic diterpenoids called cembranoids that non-competitively inhibit many types of nnAChRs.

Briarellins J-P and polyanthellin A: new eunicellin-based diterpenes from the gorgonian coral Briareum polyanthes and their antimalarial activity.

A new chemical study of the hexane extract of the gorgonian Briareum polyanthes collected in Puerto Rico afforded 10 new diterpenes of the eunicellin class, briarellins 1-9 and polyanthellin A (10), along with the known diterpene briarellin D (11). The structures and relative stereochemistry of metabolites 1-10 were assigned on the basis of NMR studies, chemical methods, and comparisons to the spectral properties of 11. A reassessment of prior structural assignment for briarellin A and two known sclerophytin-type diterpenes, 13 and 14, is proposed.