•Increasing size of alkyl group on aromatic substrate decreases diquinone yield.•Steric effect most significant at benzylic carbon.•Presence of a coordinating group decreases diquinone yield.•Hydrophobicity of substrate has little effect on diquinone yield.Increased steric size of alkyl groups and the presence of coordinating atoms on alkoxy groups have both been found to contribute to decreasing yields of diquinones upon reaction of 2-alkyl-1,4-dialkoxybenzenes with CAN. The overall hydrophilicity of the substrates does not appear to be a significant factor in determining the diquinone yield for these reactions.Effects of the nature of alkyl and alkoxy groups upon diquinone formation in reactions of 2-alkyl-1,4-dialkoxybenzenes with ceric ammonium nitrate have been investigated.

An activity is described in which students in the first semester of a two semester organic chemistry laboratory class are introduced to the use of SciFinder. Students are required to determine the structures of three compounds as well as additional information regarding the synthesis of one of them using some of the features available in SciFinder.

Proper choice of reaction conditions allows formation of either the quinone or corresponding diquinone as the major product upon treatment of 2-alkyl-1,4-dimethoxybenzenes with ceric ammonium nitrate.Reaction conditions can be used to favor either quinone or diquinone formation upon treatment of 2-alkyl-1,4-dimethoxybenzenes with ceric ammonium nitrate.

The construction of IR cards that are easily prepared from inexpensive materials is described. The main body of the card can be used over and over again, and sufficient quantities are easily prepared so that each student in a lab can have his or her own IR card, even in large laboratories.Keywords: Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives; IR Spectroscopy; Laboratory Equipment/Apparatus; Laboratory Instruction; Organic Chemistry; Second-Year Undergraduate;