Penochalasin K, a new unusual chaetoglobosin from the mangrove endophytic fungus Penicillium chrysogenum V11 and its effective semi-synthesis.

A new chaetoglobosin, penochalasin K (1) bearing an unusual six-cyclic 6/5/6/5/6/13 fused ring system, along with the known analogues, chaetoglobosin C (2), penochalasin I (3), and chaetoglobosin A (4) were isolated from the solid culture of the mangrove endophytic fungus Penicillium chrysogenum V11. Their structures were elucidated by 1D, 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis and high resolution mass spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was determined by comparing the theoretical and experimental electronic circular dichroism curves. Compound 1 displayed significant inhibitory activities against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Rhizoctonia solani (MICs=6.13, 12.26μM, respectively), which was better than those of carbendazim, and exhibited potent cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-435, SGC-7901 and A549 cells (IC50<10μM). An effective biomimetic transformation of chaetoglobosin C (2)/chaetoglobosin A (4) into penochalasin K (1)/penochalasin I (3) was developed, which provided a simple method for the semi-synthesis of chaetoglobosins with a six-cyclic 6/5/6/5/6/13 fused system formed by the connectivity of C-5 and C-2' from their corresponding epoxide analogues.