Elisapterosin F: a polycyclic gorgonian-derived diterpene with a facially amphiphilic structure

Analysis of the terpene metabolites of Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae collected in San Andrés island, Colombia has resulted in the discovery of a novel metabolite, elisapterosin F (1). The tangled molecular structure of 1, which was elucidated after extensive spectroscopic data interpretation, possesses hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups located on two opposite faces, rather than at two ends as in the more conventional head/tail amphiphiles.