Four new cembranoids, querciformolides A-D (1-4), along with two known cembranoids, 7 and 8, have been isolated from the soft coral Sinularia querciformis. Furthermore, chemical investigation of Sinularia granosa has afforded three new cembranoids, querciformolide B (2) and granosolides A (5) and B (6). The structures of the new metabolites were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods, and that of 2 was further confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by a modified Mosher's method. Among these metabolites, 2-6 are rarely found cembranoids possessing a tetrahydrofuran moiety with a 4,7-ether linkage; in addition, 1 is the first epsilon-lactone cembrane found that possesses a tetrahydropyran moiety with a 4,8-ether linkage. None of these compounds were found to be cytotoxic toward a limited panel of cancer cell lines. However, compounds 3, 7, and 8 significantly inhibited the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 proteins in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells.

In previous studies a series of novel secondary metabolites, including cembranes, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] eunicellin-based compounds, 13) and other metabolites, [14][15][16][17] have been isolated from the soft coral Sinularia flexibilis (Quoy and Gaimard). Some of these were found to exhibit cytotoxic activity against the growth of various cancer cell lines. 1,[3][4][5][6][10][11][12] During the course of our investigation on new natural substances from the cultured and wild-type soft corals S. flexibilis, four new cembranoids (1-4) along with two known metabolites, 11-epi-sinulariolide acetate (5) 12,18) and sinulariolide (6) 1,19) have been isolated. New metabolites flexibilisolide A (1) and flexibilisin A (2) were isolated from the cultured soft coral, and flexibilisolide B (3) and flexibilisin B (4) were obtained from the wild-type soft coral. The cytotoxicity of compounds 1-6 against human cervical epitheloid (Hela), laryngeal (Hep 2), medulloblastoma (Daoy) and breast (MCF-7) carcinoma cells was studied. The results showed that 5 and 6 exhibited weak cytotoxicity towards MCF-7 cell line.Flexibilisolide A (1) was obtained as a white powder. The HR-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS spectrum of 1 exhibited a molecular ion peak at m/z 415.

The goal of this research was to study the effect of organic precursors with functionalized aromatic anhydrides or aromatic diketones on the performance of the LiFePO 4 /C composite. A coprecipitation method was applied to prepare a series of LiFePO 4 /C materials by calcinating amorphous LiFePO 4 with 5 wt % organic precursors at 750°C. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis, thermal analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area and electrochemical methods. The obtained LiFePO 4 /C composites showed a well-ordered olivine-type LiFePO 4 structure with a minor Fe 2 P impurity. The occurrence of the Fe 2 P phase can be attributed to the relatively high temperature of 750°C. The LiFePO 4 /C composites produced by pyrolysis of an aromatic diketone with a longer alkoxy branch exhibited a better capacity compared to other types of organic compounds. The longer alkoxy aromatic diketone showed a better performance because its decomposition temperature was close to the temperature of the LiFePO 4 phase transformation resulting in a fine particle size and uniform carbon distribution on the composite surface. The performance of different organic precursors showed a strong relationship with its decomposition temperature, but was not in correlation with its weight loss. According to Raman spectral analysis, longer alkoxy aromatic diketones have a larger ͑D + G͒/PO 4 peak ratio indicating higher uniform and carbon content coating on LiFePO 4 /C particles.

A new quinone derivative, flexibilisquinone (1), was isolated from the cultured soft coral Sinularia flexibilis, originally distributed in the waters of Taiwan. The structure of quinone 1 was established by extensive spectroscopic methods, particularly 1D and 2D NMR experiments. In the in vitro anti-inflammatory effects test, quinone 1 was found to significantly inhibit the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 proteins of the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells.