Merosesquiterpenes from two sponges of the genus Dysidea.

The chemical study of two sponges of the genus Dysidea collected in the Gulf of California has led to the isolation of the new merosesquiterpenes 20-O-acetyl-21-hydroxy-ent-isozonarol (2), 20-O-acetylneoavarol (3), ent-yahazunol (4), and dysienone (5), together with the known compounds 1 and 6-9. The structures of the new metabolites have been established by spectroscopic techniques. The absolute configuration of compounds 5 and 6 has been investigated by application of a procedure developed by Riguera et al. Compounds 2 and 5 showed cytotoxic activity against three human tumor cell lines.