Lepadins F-H, new cis-decahydroquinoline alkaloids from the Australian ascidian Aplidium tabascum

Chemical investigation of a Great Barrier Reef ascidian, Aplidium tabascum, has resulted in the isolation of three new cis-decahydroquinoline alkaloids, lepadins F-H (4-6). The three new compounds differ from the previously isolated lepadins A-C (1-3) in that they contain a fully saturated 5-hydroxyoctyl side chain attached at C-5, an unsaturated eight-carbon ester moiety attached to C-3, and opposite stereochemistry at C-5 and C-3. Lepadins G (5) and H (6) are epimers at C-2. NMR and molecular modeling studies indicated that the three new compounds adopt a chair-chair conformation in which the nitrogen equatorially substitutes the cyclohexyl ring. This contrasts with lepadins A-C (1-3), which adopt a chair-chair conformation in which the nitrogen axially substitutes the cyclohexyl ring.