Elisapterosin F: a polycyclic gorgonian-derived diterpene with a facially amphiphilic structure

Analysis of the terpene metabolites of Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae collected in San Andrés island, Colombia has resulted in the discovery of a novel metabolite, elisapterosin F (1). The tangled molecular structure of 1, which was elucidated after extensive spectroscopic data interpretation, possesses hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups located on two opposite faces, rather than at two ends as in the more conventional head/tail amphiphiles.

A recent chemical study on the nonpolar fraction of the methanolic-CHCl3 extract of the gorgonian coral Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae has yielded a new diterpene of the elisapterane series. The complex structure, including relative stereochemistry, was established through spectroscopic analysis.