Case study-based review on misassigned structures and measures to avoid erroneous assignments during structure determination.

A new cyclic peptide, kakeromamide B (1), and previously described cytotoxic cyanobacterial natural products ulongamide A (2), lyngbyabellin A (3), 18E-lyngbyaloside C (4), and lyngbyaloside (5) were identified from an antimalarial extract of the Fijian marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate activity against Plasmodium falciparum blood-stages with EC₅₀ values of 0.89 and 0.99 µM, respectively, whereas 3 was more potent with an EC₅₀ value of 0.15 nM. Compounds 1, 4, and 5 displayed moderate liver-stage antimalarial activity against P. berghei liver schizonts with EC₅₀ values of 1.1, 0.71, and 0.45 µM, respectively. The threading-based computational method FINDSITE^comb2.0 predicted the binding of 1 and 2 to potentially druggable proteins of Plasmodium falciparum, prompting formulation of hypotheses about possible mechanisms of action. Kakeromamide B (1) was predicted to bind to several Plasmodium actin-like proteins and a sortilin protein suggesting possible interference with parasite invasion of host cells. When 1 was tested in a mammalian actin polymerization assay, it stimulated actin polymerization in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that 1 does, in fact, interact with actin.

Two sulfated diterpene glycosides featuring a highly substituted and sterically encumbered cyclopropane ring have been isolated from the marine red alga Peyssonnelia sp. Combination of a wide array of 2D NMR spectroscopic experiments, in a systematic structure elucidation workflow, revealed that peyssonnosides A–B (1‒2) represent a new class of diterpene glycosides with a tetracyclo [7.5.0.01,10.05,9] tetradecane architecture. A salient feature of this workflow is the unique application of quantitative interproton distances obtained from the rotating frame Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY) NMR experiment, wherein the β-D-glucose moiety of 1 was used as an internal probe to unequivocally determine the absolute configuration, which was also supported by optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). Peyssonnoside A (1) exhibited promising activity against liver stage Plasmodium berghei and moderate anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity, with no cytotoxicity against human keratinocytes. Additionally, 1 showed strong growth inhibition of the marine fungus Dendryphiella salina indicating an antifungal ecological role in its natural environment. The high natural abundance and novel carbon skeleton of 1 suggests a rare terpene cyclase machinery, exemplifying the chemical diversity in this phylogenetically distinct marine red alga.

A series of oligomeric phenols including the known natural product 3,4,3′,4′-tetrahydroxy-1,1′-biphenyl (3), the previously synthesized 2,3,8,9-tetrahydroxybenzo[c]chromen-6-one (4), and eight new related natural products, cladophorols B–I (5–12), were isolated from the Fijian green alga Cladophora socialis and identified by a combination of NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometric analysis, and computational modeling using DFT calculations. J-resolved spectroscopy and linewidth reduction by picric acid addition aided in resolving the heavily overlapped aromatic signals. A panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens used to evaluate pharmacological potential led to the determination that cladophorol C (6) exhibits potent antibiotic activity selective towards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with an MIC of 1.4 µg/ml. Cladophorols B (5), and D–H (7–11) had more modest but also selective antibiotic potency. Activity of cladophorols A–I (4–12) were also assessed against the asexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum and revealed cladophorols A (4) and B (5) to have modest activity with EC₅₀ values of 0.7 and 1.9 µg/ml, respectively.

Correction for ‘Recent trends in the structural revision of natural products’ by Bhuwan Khatri Chhetri et al., Nat. Prod. Rep., 2018, 35, 514–531.