α-Amino acid-assisted autoxidation of naphthalene proton sponge affording 1,4-naphthoquinone nitrogen derivatives

1,8-Bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (naphthalene proton sponge) equipped at position 4 with N-terminal α-amino acid residues undergoes unprecedented easy autoxidation in basic medium forming 5-dimethylamino-1,4-naphthoquinone along with minor amounts of its derivatives. The new reaction is of interest against the background of wide distribution of 1,4-naphthoquinones in nature, their high biological significance and extremely limited information on nitrogen compounds of this series.