Abstract
An efficient synthesis of biologically active dehydro‐α‐lapachone and α‐lapachone has been carried out starting from 2‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphthoquinone by a tandem Knoevenagel‐electrocyclic reaction.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF‐2003‐041‐C00183). Dr. Ronald Tepper in discussion of this work is greatly appreciated.