Cystodytes dellechiajei alkaloids

Kobayashi, J., Cheng, J. F., Walchli, M. R., Nakamura, H., Hirata, Y., Saski, T., and Ohizumi, Y., Cysodytins A, B, and C, novel tetracyclic aromatic alkaloids with potent antineoplastic activity from the Okinawan tunicate Cystodytes dellechiajei, J. Nat. Prod., 53, 1800, 1988. 

Tunicates are the only marine invertebrates in which alkaloid biosynthesis has been extensively investigated (189). In addition to the eudistomins, described below, the tripeptide tunichromes have been investigated, by Nakanishi and coworkers at Columbia University, in the solitary tunicate Ascidia nigra (191) and shermilamine, a benzo-3,6-phenanthroline alkaloid, has been studied in Cystodytes dellechiajei, by Steffan and coworkers at the University of Munich (192). The origin of the (3-carboline ring system of the eudistomins has been studied, by Baker s group at Florida Tech, in Eudistoma olivaceum (193, 194). 

The tunicate Cystodytes dellechiajei is a very rich source of pyrido[2,3,-4-k/]acridine alkaloids. Nine tetracyclic alkaloids, cystodytins A-1128-136, have been isolated from this species (88JOC1800 91JNP1634). Except for cystodytin C 130, all other cystodytins were isolated as inseparable isomeric pairs (3.5 1) of cystodytins, )3,)3-dimethylacrylate and tiglate amides... 

Cystodytin A-D. Tunicates have been a rich source of marine alkaloids. The first reported application of inverse-detection to an alkaloid of marine origin of which we are aware was the elucidation of the structures of cystodytin A-D from the Okinawan tunicate Cystodytes dellechiajei reported by Kobayashi et al. (1988). The structure of cystodytin-A (29) is shown. The... 

Bontemps, N Bonnard, I., Banaigs, B., Combaut, G and Frandsco, C. (1994) Cystodamine, a new cytotoxic fused polyaromatic alkaloid from the Mediterranean asddian Cystodytes dellechiajei. Tetrahedron Lett., 35, 7023-7026. 

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