Asperterzine,a symmetric aromatized derivative of epipolythiodioxopiperazine,from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus PR-P-2

A new epipolythiodioxopiperazine (ETP), asperterzine (1), along with two known analogs, bisdethiobis(methylthio)-acetylaranotin (2) and bisdethiobis(methylthio)-acetylapoaranotin (3), was isolated from the plant endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus PR-P-2. The structure elucidation of 1 was accomplished by a combination of spectral methods and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectrum. Asperterzine (1) was a symmetric aromatized ETP found as a natural product for the first time. Compounds 2 and 3 showed strong cytotoxicity against HL-60 cell line. The putative biosynthetic pathway of 1 was also detailed in the text.