New Diterpenes from the South African Soft Coral Eleutherobia aurea

Abstract
The known diterpenoids zahavin A and 9-deacetoxy-14,15-deepoxyxeniculin and the two new diterpenoids 7,8-epoxyzahavin A and xeniolide C were isolated from specimens of Eleutherobia aurea collected from Aliwal Shoal off the southern Kwazulu-Natal coast, South Africa. Standard spectroscopic methods were used for the structure determinations. The former three diterpenoids inhibit superoxide production in rabbit-cell neutrophils.