This study describes an investigation into secondary metabolites that are produced by a marine red alga, Symphyocladia latiuscula, which was collected from coastal waters off Qingdao, China. A combination of normal, reversed phase, and gel chromatography was used to isolate six citric acid derived natural products, aconitates A–F (1–6), together with two known and ten new polybrominated phenols, symphyocladins C/D (7a/b), and symphyocladins H–Q (8a/b, 9a/b and 10–15), respectively. Structure elucidation was achieved by detailed spectroscopic (including X-ray crystallographic) analysis. We propose a plausible and convergent biosynthetic pathway involving a key quinone methide intermediate, linking aconitates and symphyocladins.
