The direct electrochemical synthesis of some metal derivatives of lapachol

The electrochemical oxidation of a sacrificial metal anode (M = Zn, Cd, Cu) in an acetonitrile solution of 2-hydroxy-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone, lapachol, C 15 H 14 O 3 (=HL) gives ML 2 . The results are in keeping with earlier work on direct electrochemical synthesis in related systems. Adducts with 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethanediamine (tmen) have also been prepared. The structure of the 2,2′-bipyridine adduct of Cu(lapacholate) 2 has been established by X-ray crystallography. The parameters are triclinic, space group , a = 12.748(59) Å, b = 13.859(49) Å, c = 11.770(59) Å, α = 108.30(4)°, β = 108.08(3)°, γ = 68.94(3)°, Z = 2, R = 0.059 for 2256 unique reflections. The copper atom is in a distorted CuN 2 O 2 O 2 ′ environment. The mechanism of the formation of this Cu(lapacholate) 2 is discussed. Keywords: electrochemical synthesis, lapachol, X-ray crystallography, copper(II) complex.