Benhamycin, novel alkaloid from terrestrial Streptomyces sp.

During our screening for bioactive natural compounds from microorganisms, a novel alkaloid has been isolated from a terrestrial Streptomyces sp. isolate NR12, and named as benhamycin (1). This was along with the known metabolites, uracil, thymine, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, 2'-deoxyuridin, tryptophol, indolyl-3-carboxylic acid, and indolyl-3-carbaldehyde. Chemical structure of the novel compound was determined by detailed analysis of its spectroscopic data (extensive NMR experiments, 1 & 2D, MS spectroscopy, and MS high resolution). Structurally, Benhamycin (1) is a pentacyclic aromatic compound bearing an acridine moiety lactamized with benzene. Biological studies showed that the strain extract was moderately active against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi.