Antiproliferative effect of natural and semisynthetic polyethers from Laurencia viridis.

Squalene-derived polyethers are a unique class of compounds that display a great diversity of structures and a broad array of bioactivities, among which its notable antiproliferative activity stands out against various types of cancer cell lines. In this study, eighteen triterpene squalene-derived polyethers, including twelve natural products and six synthetic derivatives, obtained from the red alga Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun were screened for their antiproliferative activity against six cancer cell lines: A549, HBL-100, HeLa, SW1573, T-47D, and WiDr; and a structure-activity relationship (SAR) study was established.

Structure and Computational Basis for Backbone Rearrangement in Marine Oxasqualenoids.

Six novel oxasqualenoids (polyether triterpenes) were isolated from the red alga Laurencia viridis. Laurokanols A-E (1-5) comprise an unreported tricyclic core with a [6,6]-spiroketal system. Yucatecone (6) shows a biogenetically intriguing epimerization at C14. Quantum mechanical calculations were used to corroborate their structures and to explain key steps involved in the biogenetic mechanisms proposed for the formation of oxasqualenoids.

Oxasqualenoids from Laurencia viridis: Combined Spectroscopic-Computational Analysis and Antifouling Potential.

The chemical study of the red alga Laurencia viridis has led to the isolation of four new polyether triterpenoids: 28-hydroxysaiyacenol B (2), saiyacenol C (3), 15,16-epoxythyrsiferol A (4), and 15,16-epoxythyrsiferol B (5). The structures of 2 and 3 were established mainly by NMR data analysis and comparison with the well-known metabolite dehydrothyrsiferol (1). However, due to the existence of a nonprotonated carbon within the epoxide functionality, stereochemical assignments in 4 and 5 required an in-depth structural study that included NOESY data, J-based configuration analysis, comparison with synthetic models, and DFT calculations. The biological activities of the new metabolites and other related oxasqualenoids were evaluated for the first time against a panel of relevant biofouling marine organisms, and structure-activity conclusions were obtained.

Stereochemistry of complex marine natural products by quantum mechanical calculations of NMR chemical shifts: solvent and conformational effects on okadaic acid.

Marine organisms are an increasingly important source of novel metabolites, some of which have already inspired or become new drugs. In addition, many of these molecules show a high degree of novelty from a structural and/or pharmacological point of view. Structure determination is generally achieved by the use of a variety of spectroscopic methods, among which NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) plays a major role and determination of the stereochemical relationships within every new molecule is generally the most challenging part in structural determination. In this communication, we have chosen okadaic acid as a model compound to perform a computational chemistry study to predict 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts. The effect of two different solvents and conformation on the ability of DFT (density functional theory) calculations to predict the correct stereoisomer has been studied.