Damipipecolin and damituricin, novel bioactive bromopyrrole alkaloids from the Mediterranean sponge Axinella damicornis

Two new bromopyrrole alkaloids, damipipecolin (1) and damituricin (2), have been isolated from the Mediterranean sponge Axinella damicornis, and their structures established through spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1 and 2 extend the structural variety of the so far known pyrrole alkaloids; in these compounds, the 4-bromopyrrole 2-carboxylic acid is directly condensed with a non-protein cyclic alpha-amino acid, the (2R, 4R)-trans-4-hydroxypipecolic acid and (2R, 4R)-cis-N,N'-dimethyl-4-hydroxyproline (D-turicine) in 1 and 2, respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 were found to display a modulating effect of the serotonin receptor activity in vitro.