Temperature affects the kinetics but not the products of the reaction between 4-methylbenzoquinone and lysine

•Quinones react with Lys by Michael addition or Schiff base formation.•Temperature dependence followed the Arrhenius law at 15–45 °C.•Activation energies were in the order: Lys < Nε-acetyl Lys < Nα-acetyl Lys.•Product distribution was not affected by temperature in the range of 15–100 °C.•Nα-acetyl-Lys reacted on the C5 position of 4-methylbenzoquinone via Michael addition.