| Abstract
| - Four new alkaloids, didemnimides A−D(1−4), possessing a novelindole−maleimide−imidazolecarbon skeleton, have been identified as the major predator deterrentsfound in the chemically-defended Caribbean mangrove ascidian Didemnum conchyliatum.The carbon skeleton of thedidemnimides was identified by X-ray analysis of didemnimide A(1), while the structures of therelated didemnimides B−D were subsequently assigned using combinedspectral methods thatemphasized one- and two-dimensional NMR methods. The didemnimides,in particular didemnimide D (4), are potent feeding deterrents against a naturalassemblage of mangrove-specificcarnivorous fish.
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