Dysidavarones A-D, new sesquiterpene quinones from the marine sponge Dysidea avara

Dysidavarones A-D (1-4), four new sesquiterpene quinones possessing the unprecedented "dysidavarane" carbon skeleton, were isolated from the South China Sea sponge Dysidea avara. The structures were established by spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations were determined using quantum mechanical calculation of the electronic circular dichroic (ECD) spectrum and exciton chirality CD method. Their cytotoxic activity against four human cancer cell lines and PTP1B inhibitory activity were also evaluated.