A new strategy to 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (HNPA) and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid from 2, 6- diisopropylnaphthalene and p-cymene, respectively, was developed using the NHPI- catalyzed aerobic oxidation as a principal reaction. 2, 6-Diisopropylnaphthalene was oxidized by the oxidation with O2 (1atm) by NHPI (10mol%) combined with Co (OAc) 2 (0.5 mol%) to give 6-acetyl-2-isopropylnaphthalene, which then was converted to 6-isopropyl- ...