*Article* **Briarenols I—K, New Anti-inflammatory 8,17-Epoxybriaranes from the Octocoral** *Briareum excavatum* **(Briareidae)**

**Thanh-Hao Huynh 1,2, Lee-Shing Fang 3,4, Yu-Hsin Chen 2, Bo-Rong Peng 2, You-Ying Chen 2, Li-Guo Zheng 2, Yu-Jen Wu 5, Zhi-Hong Wen 6, Jih-Jung Chen 7, Tzu-Chi Lin 8,\* and Ping-Jyun Sung 1,2,6,9,10,\***


Received: 7 February 2020; Accepted: 16 March 2020; Published: 19 March 2020

**Abstract:** Five 8,17-epoxybriaranes, including three new compounds—briarenols I–K (**1**–**3**), along with two known analogues, briaexcavatolide P (**4**) and briaexcavatin P (**5**), were isolated from the octocoral *Briareum excavatum*. The structures of briaranes **1**–**3** were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR studies and (+)-HRESIMS. Briarane **4** exerted inhibition effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) release from RAW 264.7.

**Keywords:** *Briareum excavatum*; briarenol; briarane; anti-inflammatory; iNOS; COX-2
