Six New Polyacetylenic Alcohols from the Marine Sponges Petrosia sp. and Halichondria sp.

Six new polyacetylenic alcohols, termed strongylotriols A and B; pellynols J, K, and L; and isopellynol A, together with three known polyacetylenic alcohols, pellynols A, B, and C were isolated from the marine sponges Petrosia sp., and Halichondria sp. collected in Okinawa, Japan. Their planer structures were determined based on 2D-NMR and mass spectrometric analysis of the degraded products by RuCl3 oxidation. The absolute stereochemistry of isolates was examined by their Mosher's esters. The strongylotriols were found to be optically pure compounds, whereas the pellynols are diastereomeric mixtures at the C-6 position. Proliferation experiments using the HeLa and K562 cell lines suggested that the essential structural units for activity are the "hexa-2,4-diyn-1,6-diol" and "pent-1-en-4-yn-3-ol" on the termini.