Phospholipids of the sea anemone: Quantitative distribution; absence of carbon-phosphorus linkages in glycerol phospholipids; structural elucidation of ceramide aminoethylphosphonate.

The phospholipid composition of the sea anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima) was determined by quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Phosphonic acids were not detected in phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, or phosphatidyl serine following isolation and hydrolysis. The structure of ceramide aminoethylphosphonate, a phosphonolipid, was elucidated by hydrolysis and oxidative degradation followed by characterization of the products by TLC and gas-liquid chromatography. The long-chain base was shown to be sphingosine with the 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid group attached through the primary hydroxyl group at carbon one. Ceramide aminoethylphosphonate is therefore 1-(O-phosphonoethylamine)-N-acyl sphingosine.