Two new tricycloalternarene esters from an alga-epiphytic isolate of Alternaria alternata

Two new tricycloalternarene-type meroterpenes, 17-O-methyltricycloalternarene D (1) and methyl nortricycloalternarate (4), and two known congeners, TCA D (2) and TCA 1b (3), were isolated from the culture of a marine red alga-epiphytic fungal strain (k21-1) of Alternaria alternata. The planar structures and relative configurations of these two new compounds were unequivocally identified by a combination of 1D/2D NMR, UV, IR, and mass spectra and by comparison with literature data, and the absolute configurations were assigned by analysis of ECD spectra. Compounds 1–4 were evaluated for growth inhibition of four marine plankton species, but they appeared weak or moderate to inhibit them.