Distomadines A and B, novel 6-hydroxyquinoline alkaloids from the New Zealand ascidian, Pseudodistoma aureum

Distomadines A and B, novel tetracyclic guanidine-containing 6-hydroxyquinoline alkaloids were isolated from the New Zealand ascidian Pseudodistoma aureum and characterised by interpretation of spectroscopic data and chemical derivatisation. Distomadine A exhibited mild antifungal activity but failed to exhibit any biological activity in a range of antitumour, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antimycobacterial tests. The known methyl esters of fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid and eicosatetraenoic acid were also identified in the extract with EPA methyl ester exhibiting mild cytotoxicity to a non-malignant cell line. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.