A one-pot synthesis of 2-(N-substituted amino)-1,4-naphthoquinones from 1,4-naphthoquinones and nitro compounds in water has been developed. This method features mild reaction conditions and provides aromatic nitro compounds with various functional groups such as halogens, methylthio, ester, amide, even allyl, propargyl, and heterocycles, as well as aliphatic nitro compounds that are well tolerated. This method can be scaled up and we conducted further transformation of the obtained 2-(N-substituted amino)-1,4-naphthoquinones to synthesize carbazolequinone derivatives.
