Botrytis cinerea, which was isolated from the surface of stored sunflower seed, produced a novel biologically active natural product when cultured on shredded wheat medium. The metabolite, trivially named cinereain, was a ruby red crystalline product with the molecular formula C₁₈H₂₁N₃O₃ and melting point 201-203°C. The structure was unequivocally established by single crystal X-ray diffraction; UV, IR, NMR (¹H and ¹³C) and mass spectrometry supported the crystallographic data. Cinereain significantly inhibited the growth of etiolated wheat coleoptiles (p<0.01) at 10^-3 and 10^-4M in bioassays. No effects were noted on treated intact greenhouse-grown bean and tobacco plants, but there was mild necrosis and chlorosis in corn.

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