Irradiation of 3-hydroxy-2-naphthalenemethanol (3a) and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthalenemethanol (4a) results in efficient (Phi(254) = 0.17 and 0.20) dehydration and the formation of isomeric naphthoquinone methides, 2,3-naphthoquinone-3-methide (1) and 1,2-naphthoquinone-1-methide (2), respectively. In aqueous solution, naphthoquinone methides 1 and 2 undergo rapid hydration to regenerate starting materials (tau(H2O) (1) = 7.4 ms and tau(H2O) (2) = 4.5 ms at 25 degrees C). The hydration reaction is strongly catalyzed by the hydroxide ion but shows acid catalysis only at pH < 1. Reactive intermediates 1 and 2 can be intercepted by other nucleophiles, such as the azide ion (k(N3)(1) = 2.0 x 10(4) M-1 s(-1) and k(N3)(2) = 3.0 x 10(4) M-1 s(-1)) or thiol (k(SH)(1) 2.2 x 10(5) M-1 s(-1) and k(SH)(2) = 3.3 x 10(5) M-1 s(-1)). Ethyl vinyl ether readily reacts with 1 and 2 (k(DA)(1) 4.1 x 10(4) M-1 s(-1) and k(DA)(2) = 6.0 x 10(4) M-1 s(-1)) to produce Diels-Alder adducts in excellent yield. o-Naphthoquinone methides 1 and 2 were also generated by photolysis of 3-ethoxymethyl-(3b) and 1-(ethoxymethyl)-2-naphthols (4b), as well as from (2-hydroxy-3-naphthyl)methyl- (3c) and [(2-hydroxy-1-naphthyl)methyl]trimethylammonium iodides (4c). Laser flash photolysis of 3a,b and 4a,b allows the detection of short-lived (tau(25 degrees C) similar to 12 mu s) precursors of naphthoquinone methides 1 and 2. On the basis of the precursor reactivity and the results of DFT calculations, 2H-naphthoxete structure was assigned to these species.