New tetracyclic diterpenoid and new ceramides from the soft coral Sinularia conferta

Abstract

The new tetracyclic diterpenoid confertdiate (1) and two new ceramides, (2) and (3), have been isolated from the soft coral Sinularia conferta, collected from Sanya Bay, Hainan Island, China. Their structures have been elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, and comparison of the ¹³C NMR data with those of the known diterpenoid isomandapamate confirmed the structure of 1.

Keywords:

• Soft coral
• Sinularia conferta
• Tetracyclic diterpenoid
• Ceramide

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No 29932030) and National High Technology Development Project (863 Project, No 2001AA620403). The authors thank Dr LI Chu-Pu of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica for identification of the soft coral.