The marine natural product ()-8,15-diisocyano-11(20)-amphilectene, isolated from the Caribbean sponge Svenzea flava, was used as scaffold to synthesize five new products, all of which were tested against laboratory strains of Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H.sub.37Rv. The scaffold contains two isocyanide units that are amenable to chemical manipulation, enabling them to be elaborated into a small library of sulfur and selenium compounds. The scaffold along with its isothio- and isoselenocyanate analogs has low to sub-micro molar antiplasmodial activity.

The marine natural product ()-8,15-diisocyano-11(20)-amphilectene, isolated from the Caribbean sponge Svenzea flava, was used as scaffold to synthesize five new products, all of which were tested against laboratory strains of Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H.sub.37Rv. The scaffold contains two isocyanide units that are amenable to chemical manipulation, enabling them to be elaborated into a small library of sulfur and selenium compounds. The scaffold along with its isothio- and isoselenocyanate analogs has low to sub-micro molar antiplasmodial activity.