Studies on the Natural Products of the Formosan Soft Corals Sinularia sp. and Sinularia lochmodes

by LO, CHING-LI

The chemical constituents of organic extracts of the Formosan soft corals Sinularia sp. and Sinularia lochmodes were studied. Investigation on Sinularia sp. has led to the isolation of eight compounds (1-8), including four new compounds, 1£\,3£]-dihydroxy-24S-methylcholesta-5,9-diene (1), 1£\,3£]-dihydroxy-24-methylencholesta-5-ene (2), 1£\,3£]-dihydroxy -24S-methylcholesta-5-ene (3), sinularioperoxide E (4), and four known compounds, 7-isopropenyl-1,4a-dimethyl-decahydro-naphthalen-1-ol (5), £]-dictyopterol (6), N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)-3-methyldodecanamide (7), (Z)-N-[2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-3-methyldodec-2-enamide (8). Also, investigation on the chemical constituent of Sinularia lochmodes has led to the isolation of two new compounds, lochmolin A (9) and lochmolin B (10). The structures of 1¡V10 were elucidated by spectroscopic evidences (1D NMR, 2D NMR, IR, and MS). The activity of compounds 2-6 to inhibit the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 protein expression of LPS-stimulated RAW-264.7 macrophage cells have been estimated.