The Formation of 1,4-Quinones by Oxovanadium(IV)-Complexes Catalyzed Aerobic Oxygenation of Fused Aromatic Compounds

Abstract
In the presence of a catalytic amount of oxovanadium(IV) complexes coordinated with 1,3-diketone ligands, fused aromatic compounds such as naphthalenes and naphthol derivatives are smoothly oxygenated into the corresponding 1,4-naphthoquinones by combined use of molecular oxygen and crotonaldehyde under an atmospheric pressure.