A yellow solid, it is used as a photoinitiator in curing dental composites.

[1] Camphorquinone is produced by the oxidation of camphor with selenium dioxide.

[2] Polymerization is induced very slowly by camphorquinone, so amines such as N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine, 2-ethyl-dimethylbenzoate, N-phenylglycine are generally added to increase the rate of curing.

[1] It absorbs very weakly at 468 nm (extinction coefficient of 40 M−1·cm−1) giving it a pale yellow color.

[1] Photoexcitation results in nearly quantitative formation of its triplet state through intersystem crossing and very faint fluorescence.