Neopetrosiamine A, biologically active bis-piperidine alkaloid from the Caribbean sea sponge Neopetrosia proxima.

A new tetracyclic bis-piperidine alkaloid, neopetrosiamine A (1), has been extracted from the marine sponge Neopetrosiaproxima collected off the west coast of Puerto Rico. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data coupled with careful comparisons of its (1)H and (13)C NMR data with those of a well-known 3-alkylbis-piperidine alkaloid model. The new alkaloid displayed strong in vitro cytotoxic activity against a panel of cancer cell lines as well as in vitro inhibitory activity against the pathogenic microbes Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Plasmodium falciparum.