“…Anthraquinones and their derivatives are important structures found in natural products and bioactive compounds and show a broad range of bioactivities including anti-tumor [1,2], cytotoxic [3], anti-cancer [4][5][6], anti-bacterial [7,8], laxative [9], anti-arthritic [10], anti-fungal [11], anti-platelet [12,13], and neuroprotective effects [14]. Moreover, anthraquinones have been widely used as catalysts for producing hydrogen peroxide [15], dyes for fibers [16,17] and cells [18], a digestion catalyst for wood [19], and chemical sensors [20]. Thus, the development of synthetic methods for the formation of multi-substituted anthraquinones is an important research topic, and several synthtic methods including the oxidation of anthracene [21,22], the Friedel-Crafts reaction of phthalic anhydride [23], and the Diels-Alder reaction of naphthoquinones followed by aromatization [24] have been developed.…”