Our chemical investigation on the soft coral Sinularia facile which was collected off the coast of Kengting, Taiwan, has led to the isolation of ten metabolites 1¡Ð10, including four cembranoids and six polyhydroxylated steroids. Cembranoids isolated are two new natural compounds, (3E,7E,11E,15E)-cembra-3,7,11,15-tetraen-1-ol (1) and (1R*,12R*,3E,7E,10E,15E)-cembra-3,7,10,15-tetraen-12-ol (2), and two known compounds diepoxycembrene A (3) and isocembrol A (4). Moreover, five new polyhydroxylated steroids, cholest-5-ene-1£\,3£]-diol- 11£\-monoacetate (5), cholesta-5,24-diene-1£\,3£] -diol-11£\-monoacetate (6), cholesta-5,24-diene-1£\,3£]-11£\-triol (7), 24- methylenecholesta-5-ene-1£\, 3£]-diol-11£\,18-diacetate (8) and 24(S)- methylcholest-5-ene-1£\,3£]-diol- 11£\-monoacetate (9), and one known compound, 24-methylenecholest-5- ene-1£\,3£],11£\-triol (10). The chemical structures of these compounds (1¡Ð10) were elucidated by spectroscopic evidences (IR, MS, 1D NMR, and 2D NMR) and by comparison of the spectral data of these compounds in the literature. Cytotoxicity of these compounds toward various cancer cell lines has also been determined.

Investigation on the chemical constituents of the Formosan soft coral Sinularia gibberosa, collected by hand using scuba off the coast of Kenting, had led to the isolation of seven new cembranoids , gibberorenes A-G¡]2-8¡^, three new sterols, gibberoketosterol B¡]10¡^, gibberoepoxysterol¡]11¡^, gibberoketosterol C ¡]12¡^ along with two known compounds, (1Z,3E,7E,11S,12S,14S)-11,12-epoxycembra-1,3,7 -trien-14-ol¡]1¡^and gibberoketosterol¡]9¡^. The structures of 1-12 were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including IR, MS, 1D, and 2D NMR. Cytotoxicities of 1-12 against a limited panel of cancer cell lines were also evaluated. Among these metablites, compounds 9 and 11 were found to exhibit moderate cytotoxicity toward MCF-7, A549, MDA-MB-231, and HepG2 tumor cells. The ability of 9 and 10 to inhibit the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 expression of LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells has been also estimated.