What is "palau'amine"

Palau'amine is a toxic alkaloid compound synthesized naturally by Stylotella agminata, a species of sea sponge found in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The name of the molecule derives from the island nation of Palau, near which the sponges are found.

The substance was first isolated and described in 1993. Containing nine nitrogen atoms, the molecule is considered highly complex. The precise atomic structure was pinned down in 2007, and two years later the molecule was synthesized in the lab by a team at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.