Five new discodermolide analogues from the marine sponge Discodermia species

Discodermolide (1) and five new discodermolide analogues trivially named 2-epi-discodermolide (2), 2-des-methyldiscodermolide (3), 5-hydroxymethyldiscodermolate (4), 19-des-aminocarbonyldiscodermolide (5), and 9(13)-cyclodiscodermolide (6) have been isolated from marine sponges belonging to the genus Discodermia collected from the Caribbean Sea. The isolation, structure elucidation, and biological activities of 2-6 are described. The natural analogues, which were isolated in trace amounts, exhibited significant variation of cytotoxicity against the cultured murine P-388 leukemia and A-549 human adenocarcinoma cells and suggested the importance of the C(7) through C(17) moiety for potency against cultured tumor cell lines.