Paniceins and related sesquiterpenoids from the Mediterranean sponge Reniera fulva

Two novel sesquiterpenes, fulvanin 1 [1] and fulvanin 2 [2], have been isolated from the Mediterranean sponge Reniera fulva. Compound 2 is a sesquiterpenoid linked to a hydroquinone. Also found in Reniera fulva are four known paniceins, a group of aromatic sesquiterpenoids linked to a quinol, isolated previously from Halichondria panicea. The total assignments of 13C-nmr spectra of paniceins have been made with the aid of 2D1H-13C correlation techniques, confirming their structures. The paniceins were tested in the in vitro disease-oriented primary antitumor screen at NCI, Bethesda. Paniceins C and B3 showed cytotoxicity against NCI-H522 non-small lung cancer cells and CCRF-CEM leukemia cells, while panicein A hydroquinone revealed more selective cytotoxicity against the latter ones.