Asperitaconic acids A-C, antibacterial itaconic acid derivatives produced by a marine-derived fungus of the genus Aspergillus.

Three new itaconic acid derivatives, asperitaconic acids A-C (1-3), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extracts of the rice fermentation of a marine-derived fungus Aspergillus niger, and asperitaconic acids A-C were characterized by an itaconic acid unit and an alkyl chain moiety. Their structures were established by interpretation of their spectroscopic data including NMR and HRESIMS. Asperitaconic acids A-C exhibited antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 16-32 μg/mL, whereas these compounds showed no cytotoxicity against HepG2 and HeLa cancer cell lines.