Two new 13-hydroxycembrane diterpenoids, arbolides A (1) and B (2), along with a known trihydroxysteroid, crassarosterol A (3), were isolated from the soft coral Sinularia arborea. The structures of new cembranes 1 and 2 were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Steroid 3 was found to exhibit cytotoxicity toward K562 and MOLT-4 leukemia.

A concise and efficient approach for the diastereoselective total synthesis of salvileucalin C, as well as their biosynthetically related diterpenoids salvileucalin D, salvipuberulin, isosalvipuberulin, and dugesin B, has been reported for the first time. The key features of the strategy are based on a Beckwith-Dowd ring expansion, a tandem diastereoselective Stille coupling/debromination/desil...

A novel skeletal norhumulene (1) and six xeniaphyllane-derived compounds, including norditerpenoids (2, 3) and diterpenoids (4-7), were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the Formosan soft coral Sinularia gibberosa. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. In vitro cytotoxic evaluation of the above metabolites revealed that 2 and 4 showed weak cytotoxicity toward a few cancer...

Phytochemical investigation on the fruits of Pieris formosa resulted in the isolation of three new highly acylated 3,4-seco-grayanane diterpenoids, pierisformotoxins E-G (1-3). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D-, 2D-NMR, electrospray ionization-mass spectra (ESI-MS) and high resolution (HR)-MS.