Further Investigation of the Mediterranean Sponge Axinella polypoides: Isolation of a New Cyclonucleoside and a New Betaine

Abstract

An exhaustive exploration into the metabolic content of the Mediterranean sponge Axinella-polypoides resulted in the isolation of the new betaine 5 and the new cyclonucleoside 8. The structures of the new metabolites were elucidated by spectroscopic methods assisted by computational methods. The analysis also provided evidence that the sponge does not elaborate pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids (PIAs) but, interestingly, it was shown to contain two already known cyclodipeptides, compounds 9 (verpacamide A) and 10.

Keywords

• natural products
• sponges
• Axinellidae
• pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids
• taxon-specificity