Natural products from sponges of the genus Agelas - On the trail of a [2+2]-photoaddition enzyme

By specifically targeting sponges likely to contain oroidin derivatives, we have, for the first time, identified Australian sponges that contain sceptrin (2) and related compounds. Using a simple extraction technique and HPLC (with a photodiode array detector) in combination with LC-MS and MS-MS we have been able to quickly identify known compounds and flag the presence of some new compounds in the extracts. Further work will entail isolation and structure elucidation of the new compounds and collection of fresh Agelas sp.1 with the aim of isolating the enzyme that catalyses the [2 + 2] dimerisation or oroidin to sceptrin.