Two halogenated C15 acetogenins, named lembyne-A and lembyne-B, have been isolated from an unrecorded Laurencia species collected off the Malaysian waters. Their structures were deduced on the basis of spectroscopic evidence. Previously known elatol and iso-obtusol showed potent antibacterial activity against some marine bacteria.

A novel brominated diterpene based on the rare neoirieane skeleton, named neoirietetraol (1), has been isolated along with a halogenated C15 acetogenin, (3Z)-laurenyne (2), from a new Laurencia species, L.yonaguniensis Masuda et Abe, species inedita, collected at Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The structures of these metabolites were elucidated by spectroscopic data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D NMR, and MS). Neoirietetraol (1) was toxic to the brine shrimp (Altemia salina; LC50, 40.1 microM) and also showed weak antibacterial activities against two marine bacteria, Alcaligenes aquamarinus and Escherichia coli.

In connection with our chemotaxonomic studies of Malaysian species of the red algal genus Laurencia, the chemical composition of Laurencia pannosa Zanardini was examined. Two halogenated sesquiterpenoids, named pannosanol (1) and pannosane (2), have been isolated along with a halogenated C15-acetogenin, (3Z)-chlorofucin (3). The structures of these compounds were determined from their spectroscopic data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D NMR, and MS). Pannosanol and pannosane are novel halometabolites with an unusual rearranged chamigrane framework. Antibacterial activities of these metabolites against marine bacteria are also described.