New methoxylated fatty acids from the Caribbean sponge Callyspongia fallax.

The saturated 2-methoxylated fatty acids 2-methoxytetradecanoic acid (1), 2-methoxypentadecanoic acid (2), and 2-methoxyoctadecanoic acid (3) as well as the Delta6 monoenoic methoxylated fatty acids (6Z)-2-methoxy-6-tetradecenoic acid (4), (6Z)-2-methoxy-6-pentadecenoic acid (5), and (6Z)-2-methoxy-13-methyl-6-tetradecenoic acid (7) were identified for the first time in nature in the phospholipids from the Caribbean sponge Callyspongia fallax. These findings expand the occurrence of 2-methoxylated fatty acids to C14-C15 chain lengths and establish new fatty acid biosynthetic possibilities for marine organisms. The novel methoxylated fatty acids could have originated from the phospholipids of a bacterium in symbiosis with the sponge.