Three new diphenyl ether derivatives—phomaethers A–C (1–3) and five known compounds—including a diphenyl ether analog, 2,3′-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-5′,6-dimethyl diphenyl ether (4); and four isocoumarin derivatives, diaportinol (5), desmethyldiaportinol (6), citreoisocoumarinol (7), and citreoisocoumarin (8)—were isolated from a gorgonian-derived fungus Phoma sp. (TA07-1). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic investigation. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by acid hydrolysis reactions. It was the first report to discover the diphenyl glycoside derivatives from coral-derived fungi. Compounds 1, 3, and 4 showed selective strong antibacterial activity against five pathogenic bacteria with the minimum inhibiting concentration (MIC) values and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values between 0.156 and 10.0 μM.
