Isolation and identification of cerebrosides from the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula

A cerebroside mixture has been isolated from the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula. Acid-catalyzed methanolysis of this cerebroside mixture afforded methyl glucosides, three long-chain bases, and a mixture of alpha-hydroxy fatty acid methyl esters. The bases were identified as saturated C(17), C(18), and C(19) trihydroxy bases (1,3,4-trihydroxy-2-aminoalkanes) by gas-liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of their corresponding trimethylsilyl derivatives. The methyl ester fraction consisted of a mixture of homologous C(16) to C(26) saturated straight-chain alpha-hydroxy esters plus a trace of saturated C(25) iso alpha-hydroxy ester.