1,8-Naphthalic anhydride reacts with aromatic momocarbo-xylic acids having ${alpha}$-hydrogen atomes such as p-nitrophenylacetic acid, p-methoxylhenylacetic acid, ${alpha}$-naphthylacetic acid and diphenylacetic acid in the presence of freshly fused sodium acetate as a catalyst to give 1,8-(${alpha}$-nitrophenylmalonyl)-naphthalin, 1,8-diphenylmalonyl-naphthalin, respectively. The results of these experiments show that 1,8-naphthalic anhydride yields the beta diketone type condensation products.