THz spectra of 1,4-naphthoquinones and its four derivatives

Recently some naphthoquinone derivatives have been found with anticancer or other therapeutic properties, but also have some negative side effects. Numerous research projects have been conducted to investigate their properties and therapeutic mechanisms. With Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS), we have successfully obtained THz spectra of 1,4-naphthoquinone and its four derivatives in a series of naphthazarin - juglone - 1,4-naphthoquinone - menadione - plumbagin, in the range between 0.2 and 2.4 similar to 2.8 THz. Although these molecules are almost identical to each other, they have very distinctive THz spectra so that they can be identified much more easily than using conventional spectroscopy. We have comparatively analyzed their THz spectra, and found some possible correlations between THz; spectra and molecular structures. These THz spectra cannot only be used as spectral fingerprint, but also provide us their conformational properties that can be used in study of their interaction with biomolecules to reveal their pharmaceutical mechanisms.