ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the terpenes of the South China Sea soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophrum. Methods: Subjected to 1H-NMR-guided fractionation, the chemical constituents were isolated and purified using column chromatographies on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their structures were determined through the analysis of spectroscopic data. Results: Eight diterpenes and one sesquiterpene were isolated from the ethyl ether soluble part of acetone extract of S. trocheliophrum and their structures were identified as cembrene A (1), (E,E,E)-7,8-epoxy-1-isopropyl-4,8,12- trimethylcyclotetradeca-l,3,11-triene (2), sarcophytonolide A (3), deacetylemblide (4), 4Z,12Z,14E-sarcophytolide (5), sarcrassin D (6), emblide (7), (4Z,8S,9R,12E,14E)-9-hydroxy-1-isopropyl-8,12-dimethyloxabicyclo [9.3.2]-hexadeca-4,12,14-trien-18-one (8), and β-elemene (9), respectively. Conclusion: Compound 4 is found to be a new natural product, and its 13C-NMR data are recorded for the first time. Moreover, this is the first report that compounds 1, 3, 5, and 8 are obtained from the title soft coral. In bioassay, compound 5 exhibits the moderate human protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitory activity (IC50 = 15.4 μmol/L).