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An efficient column chromatography of the CH2Cl2/MeOH crude extract from the soft coral Litophyton mollis (Macfadyen, 1936) yielded seven steroids, including five 4α-methylated steroids (1–5) and two 19-oxygenated steroids (6–7). Notably, both compounds 3 and 7 are new, identified as (22E)-4α,24-dimethyl-5α-cholesta-22,24(28)-dien-3β,8β-diol (3) and (22E,24R)-7β-acetoxy-24-methyl-cholesta-5,22-dien-3β,19-diol (7). The chemical structures and relative configurations were elucidated through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, as well as HRESIMS analysis. The cytotoxicity of metabolites 1–7 was evaluated against three cancer cell lines: MCF-7, HepG2, and NCI-1299. Remarkably, metabolites 6 and 7 exhibited strong cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, with IC50 values of 8.6 and 8.4 μM, respectively, while also showing moderate effects against NCI-1299, with IC50 values of 15.7 and 15.1 μM, respectively. Additionally, steroids 4 and 5 displayed weak cytotoxicity against all three cell lines, with IC50 values in the ranges of 34.7–37.5 and 30.8–46.3 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical examination of the soft coral Sclerophytum levi collected from the Red Sea led to isolation and structurally elucidation of a new mono- acyl glycerol ester, [(2 R )-2,3-dihydroxypropyl] (2 R )-2-hydroxypentadecanoate (1) , along with myristyl palmitate (2) , (Z)-2-(9-octadecenyloxy) ethanol (3) , 24-methylene cholesterol ( 4 ) and 23-demethylgorgosterol (5) . The chemical composition of the isolated metabolites was determined via optimised spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR analyses. The new mono alkyl glycerate (m-AG) showed moderate antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans microbial strains using agar well diffusion method and recorded a weak in vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant activities.