Neopetrotaurines A-C, Isoquinoline Alkaloids with an Unprecedented Taurine Bridge from the Sponge Neopetrosia sp

Neopetrotaurines A-C (1-3), unusual alkaloids possessing two isoquinoline-derived moieties that are linked via a unique taurine bridge, were isolated from a Neopetrosia sp. marine sponge. These new compounds have proton-deficient structural scaffolds that are difficult to unambiguously assign using only conventional 2- and 3-bond ¹H-¹³C and ¹H-¹⁵N heteronuclear correlation data. Thus, the application of LR-HSQMBC and HMBC NMR experiments optimized to detect 4- and 5-bond long-range ¹H-¹³C heteronuclear correlations facilitated the structure elucidation of these unusual taurine-bridged marine metabolites. Neopetrotaurines A-C (1-3) showed significant inhibition of transcription driven by the oncogenic fusion protein PAX3-FOXO1, which is associated with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and cytotoxic activity against PAX3-FOXO1-positive cell lines.