Genus : A Hidden Treasure Trove of Structurally Unique and Diversely Bioactive Secondary Metabolites.

Marine soft corals are prolific sources of various natural products that have served as a wealthy reservoir of diverse chemical scaffolds with potential as new drug leads. The genus contains almost 100 species but only a small proportion of them has been chemically investigated, which calls for more attentions from global researchers. In the current work, 175 secondary metabolites have been discussed, drawing from published data spanning almost five decades, up to July 2023.

Cembrane Diterpenes Possessing Nonaromatic Oxacycles from the Hainan Soft Coral .

Documents on the chemical composition of the soft coral are sparse. The present investigation of the Hainan soft coral resulted in the discovery of six new cembrane diterpenes, sarcoxacyclols A-F (-) and four known analogs (-). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis along with a comparison with the data in current literature.

New flexible cembrane-type macrocyclic diterpenes as TNF-α inhibitors from the South China Sea soft coral Sarcophyton mililatensis.

A further study on the rarely reported soft coral Sarcophyton mililatensis disclosed five new flexible cembrane-type macrocyclic diterpenes sarcomililatols C-G (1-5) and two known analogues 6 and 7. The structures and absolute configurations of natural macrocyclic compounds 1-6 were established by the extensive spectroscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, time-dependent density functional theory/electronic circular dichroism (TDDFT ECD) calculations, chemical reaction, and modified Mosher's method. In the bioassays, the macrocyclic diterpene 2 exhibited potent TNF-α inhibition (IC = 6.

Mililatensols A-C, New Records of Sarsolenane and Capnosane Diterpenes from Soft Coral .

Three unusual diterpenes with rare sarsolenane and capnosane skeletons, namely mililatensols A-C (-), were isolated from the South China Sea soft coral , leading to the first record of sarsolenane and capnosane diterpenes from the title animal. The structures of compounds - were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison with the literature data. Moreover, the absolute configuration of was determined by TDDFT ECD calculations.