1,4-Naphthoquinone hydrogenation

Diels-Alder Reaction. In 1928, Diels and Alder discovered that 1,3-unsaturated organic compounds reacted with quinoid systems to give partially hydrogenated, cycHc compounds. In the course of their work, they found that 1 mol of 1,4-naphthoquinone [130-15-4] reacted readily with 1 mol of 1,3-butadiene [106-99-0] to give a partially hydrogenated anthraquinone (11) l,4,4a,9a-tetrahydro-9,10-anthracenedione [56136-14-2] which, on oxidation with chromic oxide, produced anthraquinone (43) ... 

Naphthoquinone was completely eliminated and hydrogenated to naphthol and dihydroxynaphthalene as reported by Brower (15). 

Abou-Ouf et al. [16] described a spectrophotometric method for the determination of primaquine phosphate in pharmaceutical preparation. Two color reactions for the analysis of primaquine phosphate dosage form, which are based on 2,6-dichlor-oquinone chlorimide and l,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate, were described. The reactions depend on the presence of active centers in the primaquine molecule. These are the hydrogen atoms at position 5 of the quinoline nucleus and the primary amino group of the side chain. The method was applied to tablets of primaquine phosphate and a combination of primaquine phosphate and amodiaquine hydrochloride. 

Lithium aluminum hydride reduced p-benzoquinone to hydroquinone (yield 70%) [576] and anthraquinone to anthrahydroquinone in 95% yield [576]. Tin reduced p-benzoquinone to hydroquinone in 88% yield [174] Procedure 35, p. 214). Stannous chloride converted tetrahydroxy-p-benzoquinone to hexa-hydroxybenzene in 70-77% yield [929], and 1,4-naphthoquinone to 1,4-di-hydroxynaphthalene in 96% yield [180]. Other reagents suitable for reduction of quinones are titanium trichloride [930], chromous chloride [187], hydrogen sulfide [248], sulfur dioxide [250] and others. Yields are usually good to excellent. Some of the reagents reduce the quinones selectively in the presence of other reducible functions. Thus hydrogen sulfide converted 2,7-dinitro-phenanthrene quinone to 9,10-dihydroxy-2,7-dinitrophenanthrene in 90% yield [248]. 

Further reduction of quinones - acquisition of four or more hydrogens per molecule - was achieved with lithium aluminum hydride which reduced, in yields lower than 10%, 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-l,4-dihydroxy-2-methylnaphthalene and to l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-4-hydroxy-l-keto-2-methylnaphthalene [931]. Lithium aluminum hydride [931], sodium borohydride, lithium trie thy Iborohydride and 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1Jnomine [100] converted anthraquinone to 9,10-dihydro-9,10-dihydroxyanthracene in respective yields of 67, 65, 77 and 79%. 

The same conclusion about the non-symmetric hydrogen bond is reached from the electronic spectrum. The observed position (510 m/j, = 19 600 cm "1) of the ti-ji transition may be compared to that in 5,8-diacetoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (420 m.fi) [13] and the difference of 4200 cm-1 is not unusually large for a hydrogen bond. Also, the agreement with the value of 17 400 cm-1 calculated by the MO method for the non-symmetric bonding is very satisfactory, whereas the values calculated for the models with symmetric hydrogen bonds are much too low. 

The reaction of octafluoronaphthalene with 90% hydrogen peroxide at 100 °C gives a complex mixture of products that includes naphthoquinone, naphthol derivatives, and benzene denvatives as products of nng degradation [47]... 

The classical dc polarography of vitamins A, B, B2, B6, BI2, and C, nicotinamide, tocopherols, and naphthoquinones has been reviewed [55]. Other studies have examined in detail the cyclic voltammetry of vitamin B12 employing rapid-scan voltammetry at the DME [90] and the HMDE [91]. Vitamin B12 is complexed with trivalent cobalt ion at the heterocyclic nitrogen atoms. As a result of the complexation, a catalytic hydrogen wave is formed for the compound. In addition to the catalytic wave, a wave corresponding to the reduction of the trivalent cobalt to the monovalent state is observed. 

Sunlight irradiation (solar photochemical synthesis) of 1,4-naphthoquinone (27) in the presence of aldehyde (28) in a mixture of -butanol and acetone gives a good yield of the corresponding acyl hydroquinone (29) through the abstraction of the formyl hydrogen atom of aldehyde by the excited triplet biradical derived from 1,4-naphthoquinone, followed by the reaction of the acyl radical with 1,4-naphthoquinone (eq. 12.7). Here,... 

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