New Cembranoids and a Biscembranoid Peroxide from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton cherbonnieri.

Six new cembranoids, cherbonolides A−E (<bold>1</bold>–<bold>5</bold>) and bischerbolide peroxide (<bold>6</bold>), along with one known cembranoid, isosarcophine (<bold>7</bold>), were isolated from the Formosan soft coral <italic>Sarcophyton cherbonnieri</italic>. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. Compound <bold>6</bold> was discovered to be the first example of a molecular skeleton formed from two cembranoids connected by a peroxide group. Compounds <bold>1</bold>–<bold>7</bold> were shown to have the ability of inhibiting the production of superoxide anions and elastase release in <italic>N</italic>-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine/cytochalasin B (fMLF/CB)-induced human neutrophils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]