Abstract

<jats:p>A marine sponge, Luffariella geometrica Kirkpatrick, collected from the southern Australian coastal waters of the Great Australian Bight, has been found to contain 14 new bicyclic sesterterpenes, luffarin-A (14), -B (15), -C (16), -D (17), -E (18), -F (19), -G (20), -H (21), -I (22), -J (23), -K (24), -L (25), -M (26) and -N (27), a new bicyclic bisnorsesterterpene, luffarin-O (30), a new monocyclic sesterterpene, luffarin-P (32), six new acyclic sesterterpenes, luffarin-Q (35), -R (36), -S (37), -T (38), -U (39) and -V (40), two new diterpenes, luffarin-W (41) and -X (44), and two new bisnorditerpenes luffarin-Y (45) and -Z (46). These novel marine metabolites have been assigned structures, including stereochemistry, on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis, chemical correlation, derivatization, and biosynthetic considerations. Studies directed at the absolute stereochemistry of the luffarins have also permitted assignment of absolute stereochemistry to the known marine natural products (E)-neomanoalide (3), (Z)-neomanoalide (4) and dehydroambliol-A (47).</jats:p>