Sequoiamonascins A−D: Novel Anticancer Metabolites Isolated from a Redwood Endophyte

Aspergillus parasiticus, a fungal isolate from the bark of a redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens), has been shown to produce the antitumor metabolites sequoiatones A and B and more recently the sequoiatones C−F. We have also isolated another series of compounds with a new carbon skeleton, the sequoiamonascins. The structures of sequoiamonascins A−D were deduced by interpretation of their spectral data and that of some reaction products. The sequoiamonascins were isolated by brine shrimp lethality-guided fractionation and were submitted to the NCI for anticancer evaluation.