Antifouling sesquiterpene from the Indian soft coral, <i style="">Sinularia kavarattiensis</i> Alderslade and Prita

Abstract

A sesquiterpene, (l'<i style="">E</i>,5'<i style="">E</i>)-2-(2',6'-dimethylocta-l',5',7'-trienyl)-4-furoic acid [<b style="">1</b>],<b style=""> </b>was isolated for the first time from the soft coral <i style="">Sinularia kavarattiensis</i> Alderslade &amp; Prita collected from Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu, India). This compound exhibited considerable larval settlement inhibition properties against the cosmopolitan biofouler, <i style="">Balanus amphitrite</i>. The observed mean EC₅₀ value of 11.21 µg/ml is well within the biological potency cut off set for natural product antifoulants (NPA’s). The low EC₅₀value and favourable therapeutic ratio (5.16) coupled with its known synthetic routes enhances the potential of <b style="">1</b> as a promising NPA.