Quinone lmines and quinone di imlnes have been of long-standing interest in chemistry, lm3 and the former moieties have been proposed or establ ished as intermediates(see 1 and 2) In a number of biological processes, l-3 most notably the metabolism of a number of biochemically important cathecholamines4-7 and most recently in the blologlcal oxidation of N-methy I e II i pt Ic I n I urn acetate. 8 Quinone imines are usual ly quite unstable under ...