Synthesis of compounds related to antihemorrhagic vitamin K. III: 1,4‐naphthoquinone as a starting material for the preparation of 2‐methyl‐1,4‐naphtho‐hydroquinone and derivatives

A general method for the synthesis of 2‐alkyl‐1,4‐naphthoquinones and hydroquinones from 1,4‐naphthoquinone as the starting material is described in this paper, with special references to 2‐methyl‐1,4‐naphthoquinone, 2‐methyl‐1,4‐naphtho‐hydroquinone, the dimethyl ether, the diacetate, the dipropionate, and the dibenzoate of the synthetic 2‐methyl‐1,4‐naphtho‐hydroquinone, which have recently been shown to possess strong anti‐hemorrhagic vitamin K activity.