Capnellenes from the soft coral Dendronephthya rubeola.

Four new acetoxycapnellenes 1-4, the first epoxyprecapnellene 5, along with the known dihydroxycapnellene 6 and monoacetoxycapnellene 7, have been isolated from the soft coral Dendronephthya rubeola. The structures were determined primarily by NMR spectroscopy. The compounds 6 and 7 showed a good antiproliferative activity against the cell line L-929 (murine fibroblasts) and a good cytotoxic activity against the HeLa (human cervix carcinoma) cell line. Compound 6 strongly inhibits the interaction of the oncogenic transcription factor Myc with its partner protein Max. Myc/Max-Interaction inhibitors are therapeutically interesting compounds in oncology.