Steroids with aromatic A-rings from the Hainan soft coral Dendronephthya studeri Ridley.

Eight new marine steroids, characterized by either the presence of an aromatic ring or a cross-conjugated dienone system in ring A, were isolated from the Hainan soft coral Dendronephthya studeri Ridley. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their NMR data with those reported in the literature.