We have conducted a long-term research on the Taiwanese soft
coral Asterospicularia laurae, which resulted in many xenicanetype
diterpenoids such as asterolaurins A–M from A. laurae coral
tissues during the non-spawning period were isolated. Here, we
report a new xenicane diterpenoid, asterolaurin N (1), along with
three known xenicane-type monocarbocyclic diterpenes [13-epi-
9-desacetylxenicin (2), xeniolide-B 9-acetate (3) and asterolaurin I
(4)] from A. laurae during the spawning period. The structures of
the new secondary metabolite were established with an extensive
spectroscopic analysis. The 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) data of the compounds were discussed. We discovered
that the C-15 of 1 contains two methyl groups on a carbon
bearing an acetyl group, which has not been reported previously.
In addition, Compounds 1, 3, and 4 showed selective cytotoxic
activity against Molt 4, while 2 exhibited significant cytotoxicity
against Molt 4, K562, Sup-T1 and U937 cell lines.
