Organoselenium compounds are chemical compounds containing carbon to seleniumchemical bonds. Organoselenium chemistry is the corresponding science exploring their properties and reactivity.123 Selenium belongs with oxygen and sulfur to the group 16 elements and similarities in chemistry are to be expected.
Selenium can exist with oxidation state -2, +2, +4, +6. Se(II) is the dominant form in organoselenium chemistry. Down the column the bond strength becomes increasingly weaker (234 kJ/mol for the C–Se bond and 272 kJ/mol for the C–S bond) and the bond lengths longer (C–Se 198 pm, C–S 181 pm and C–O 141 pm). Selenium compounds are more nucleophilic than the corresponding sulfur compounds and also more acidic. The pKa values of XH2 are 16 for oxygen, 7 for sulfur and 3.8 for selenium. In contrast to sulfoxides the corresponding selenoxides are unstable in the presence of β-protons and this property is utilized in many organic reactions of selenium, notably in selenoxide oxidations and in selenoxide eliminations.
The first organoselenium compound ever isolated was diethylselenide in 1836.4
Selenols RSeH are the selenium equivalents of alcohols and thiols. These compounds are toxic and generally have an unpleasant smell. Phenylselenol or selenaphenol, PhSeH, is more acidic (pKa 5.9) than thiophenol (pKa 6.5) and also oxidizes more readily to the diselenide. A procedure for the synthesis of selenaphenol starts from phenylmagnesium bromide and elemental selenium with aqueous acidic workup.
Diselenides R-Se-Se-R are the selenium equivalents of peroxides and disulfides and used in organic chemistry as starting compounds for selenols and selenenyl halides R-Se-Cl or R-Se-Br.
Selenides R-Se-R are the selenium equivalents of ethers and thioethers and the organic counterparts of inorganic Selenides. These compounds are ambiphilic on account of the identical electronegativities of carbon and selenium and can react as a nucleophile or an electrophile. They react as nucleophiles with alkyl halides R'-X to trivalent selenonium salts R'RRSe+X- but as electrophiles with organolithium reagents R'Li to the ate complex R'RRSe-Li+ in which the lone paircarbanion is stabilized by the unfilled selenium 4d orbital. This ate complex collapses back to a selenide but with exchange of ligands as in R'-se-Se.
Selenoxides R-Se=O-R are the selenium equivalents of sulfoxides which can be further oxidized to selenones R-SeO2-R, sulfones with sulfur replaced again by selenium.
Vinylic selenides
Vinylic selenides play an important role in the synthesis of organoselenium compounds, especially in the development of many convenient methods for the stereoselective preparation of functionalized alkenes.5 Although various methods are mentioned for the preparation of vinylic selenides, a more useful procedure has centered on the nucleophilic or electrophilic organoselenium addition to terminal or internal alkynes. 6 For example, the nucleophilic addition of senophenol to alkynes affords, preferentially, the Z-vinylic selenides after longer reaction times at room temperature.The reaction is faster at a high temperature; however, the mixture of Z- and E-vinylic selenides was obtained in an almost 1:1 ratio. 7 On the other hand, the adducts, depending on the nature of the substituents at the triple bond. Conversely, vinylic selenides can be prepared by palladium-catalyzed hydroselenation of alkynes to afford the Markownikov adduct in good yields. There are some limitations associated with the methodologies to prepare vinylic selenides illustrated above; procedures described employ diorganoyl diselenides or selenophenol as starting materials, which are volatile and unstable and have an unpleasant odor. Also, the preparation of these compounds is complex.
The type of substrate can be extended to α-carbonyl compounds such as ketones converting them to diketones. This type of oxidation with selenium oxide is called Riley oxidation8
Selenoxide eliminations
In presence of a β-proton, a selenide will give an elimination reaction after oxidation to an alkene and leaving a selenol. In the elimination reaction all five participating reaction centers a coplanar and therefore the reaction mode is syn. Oxidizing agents are hydrogen peroxide, ozone or MCPBA. This reaction type is often used with ketones leading to enones.
The Grieco elimination is a similar selenoxide elimination with o-nitrophenylselenocyanate and tributylphosphine.
Deselenation
The three-membered seleniranes are related to the oxygen pendants oxiranes but unlike oxiranes they are kinetically unstable, extruding selenium directly (without oxidation) to form alkenes. This property has been utilized in synthetic organic chemistry 9.
See also
The chemistry of carbon bonded to other elements in the periodic table:
Selenophenol from phenylmagnesium bromide and elemental selenium in Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 3, p.771 (1955); Vol. 24, p.89 (1944) Online Article. Trivial note: as a precaution against selenium toxicity the authors suggest to work with them on alternate days.
Diphenyldiselenide and phenylselenenyl bromide from bromobenzene, magnesium, selenium, bromine and chloride in Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 6, p.533 (1988); Vol. 59, p.141 (1979) Article.
References
^ A. Krief, L. Hevesi, Organoselenium Chemistry I. Functional Group Transformations., Springer, Berlin, 1988ISBN 0-387-18629-8
^ S. Patai, Z. Rappoport (Eds.), The Chemistry of Organic Selenium and Tellurium Compounds, John. Wiley and Sons, Chichester, Vol. 1, 1986ISBN 0-471-90425-2
^ Paulmier, C. Selenium Reagents and Intermediates in Organic Synthesis; Baldwin, J. E., Ed.; Pergamon Books Ltd.: New York, 1986ISBN 0-08-032484-3
^ Comasseto, J. V.; Ling, L. W.; Petragnani, N.; Stefani, H. A. Synthesis 1997, 373-403. (b) Zeni, G.; Stracke, M. P.; Lissner, E.; Braga, A. L. Synlett 2003, 12, 1880-1882.
^ (a) Comasseto, J. V. J. Organomet. Chem. 1983, 253, 131-181. (b) Zeni, G.; Stracke, M. P.; Nogueira,C. W.; Braga,A. L.; Menezes,P. H.; Stefani H. A. Organic Letters 2004, 6, 1135-1138. (c) Dabdoub, M. J.; Dabdoub, V.B.; Pereira, M. A. Tetrahedron Lett. 2001, 42, 1595-1597. (d) Dabdoub,M. J.; Baroni, A. C. M.; Lenardão, E. J.; Gianeti, T. R.; Hurtado, G. R.Tetrahedron 2001, 57, 4271-4276. (e) Dabdoub, M. J.; Cassol, T. M.;Batista, A. C. F. Tetrahedron Lett. 1996, 37, 9005-9008. (f) Barros, O. S. D.; Lang, E. S.; de Oliveira, C. A. F.; Peppe, C.; Zeni, G.Tetrahedron Lett. 2002, 43, 7921-7923.
^ Comasseto, J. V.; Ferreira, J. T. B. J. Organomet. Chem. 1981, 216,287-294.
^255. Selenium dioxide, a new oxidising agent. Part I. Its reaction with aldehydes and ketones Harry Lister Riley, John Frederick Morley and Norman Alfred Child Friend, J. Chem. Soc.1932, 1875 doi:10.1039/JR9320001875
^Developments in the chemistry of selenaheterocyclic compounds of practical importance in synthesis and medicinal biologyArkivoc2006 (JE-1901MR) Jacek Młochowski, Krystian Kloc, Rafał Lisiak, Piotr Potaczek, and Halina Wójtowicz Link