Briarenones A‒C, New Briarellin Diterpenoids from the Gorgonian Briareum violaceum .

Three new eunicellin-derived diterpenoids of briarellin type, briarenones A‒C ( 1 ‒ 3 ), were isolated from a Formosan gorgonian Briareum violaceum . The chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including two-dimensional (2D) NMR. The absolute configuration of 1 was further confirmed by a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The in vitro cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory potentialities of the isolated metabolites were tested against the growth of a limited panel of cancer cell lines and against the production of superoxide anions and elastase release in N -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenyl-alanine and cytochalasin B (fMLF/CB)-stimulated human neutrophils, respectively.