A General Synthesis of Quinone Ammonium Salts

A three-step procedure has been developed to convert substituted p-dimethoxybenzenes to quinone ammonium salts. Five examples of quinone ammonium salts have been prepared with this procedure. In the first step, the aromatic species is reacted with N-(hydroxymethyl)trifluoroacetamide and trifluoroacetic acid. The trifluoroacetamide product is then oxidatively demethylated and finally hydrolyzed to afford the quinone ammonium salt.