Synthesis of naturally occurring naphthoquinone epoxides and application in the synthesis of beta-lapachone.

Optimized epoxidation conditions of mono- and dialkylated naphthoquinones are presented. Based on the epoxidation protocol making use of H(2)O(2)/Na(2)CO(3), naphthoquinone epoxides are obtained in high yields. The optimized epoxidation conditions are applied in a short and high yielding synthesis of the pharmaceutically important beta-lapachone.