The biomimetic oxidation of lapachol (1) using aqueous hydrogen peroxide as oxidant and chloro[5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)porphyrinatomanganese(III)] (Mn-Porph) as catalyst is described. A comparison between the obtained results and those described for the oxidation of lapachol using meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) reveals, besides different reaction products, a completely different selectivity. Unlike the m-CPBA approach, where ortho-naphthoquinones are obtained, para-naphthoquinones are highly favoured when using Mn-Porph and H2O2. Moreover, a new lactone is isolated and characterized in the present work.
