Recent Progress in Synthetic and Biological Application of Diorganyl Diselenides

Diorganyl diselenides have emerged as privileged structures because they are easy to prepare, have distinct reactivity, and have broad biological activity. They have also been used in the synthesis of natural products as an electrophile in the organoselenylation of aromatic systems and peptides, reductions of alkenes, and nucleophilic substitution. This review summarizes the advancements in methods for the transformations promoted by diorganyl diselenides in the main functions of organic chemistry. Parallel, it will also describe the main findings on pharmacology and toxicology of diorganyl diselenides, emphasizing anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, chemotherapeutic, and antimicrobial activities. Therefore, an examination detailing the reactivity and biological characteristics of diorganyl diselenides provides valuable insights for academic researchers and industrial professionals.

A Domino Protocol toward High-performance Unsymmetrical Dibenzo[d,d']thieno[2,3-b;4,5-b']dithiophenes Semiconductors

Unsymmetric organic semiconductors have many advantages such as good solubility, rich intermolecular interactions for potential various optoelectronic applications. However, their synthesis is more challenging due to intricate structures thus normally suffering tedious synthesis. Herein, we report a trisulfur radical anion (S3⋅-) triggered domino thienannulation strategy for the synthesis of dibenzo[d,d']thieno[2,3-b;4,5-b']dithiophenes (DBTDTs) using readily available 1-halo-2-ethynylbenzenes as starting materials. This domino protocol features no metal catalyst and the formation of six C-S and one C-C bonds in a one-pot reaction. Mechanistic study revealed a unique domino radical anion pathway. Single crystal structure analysis of unsymmetric DBTDT shows that its unique unsymmetric structure endows rich and multiple weak S⋅⋅⋅S interactions between molecules, which enables the large intermolecular transfer integrals of 86 meV and efficient charge transport performance with a carrier mobility of 1.52 cm2 V-1 s-1. This study provides a facile and highly efficient synthetic strategy for more high-performance unsymmetric organic semiconductors.

Recent strategies in the synthesis of thiophene derivatives: highlights from the 2012-2020 literature

Thiophene-based analogs have been fascinated by a growing number of scientists as a potential class of biologically active compounds. Furthermore, they play a vital role for medicinal chemists to improve advanced compounds with a variety of biological effects. The current review envisioned to highlight some recent and particularly remarkable examples of the synthesis of thiophene derivatives by heterocyclization of various substrates from 2012 on.

A review on the role of transition metals in selenylation reactions

Organoselenium chemistry has emerged as a distinctive area of research with tremendous utility in the synthesis of biologically and pharmaceutically active molecules. Significant synthetic approaches have been made for the construction of C-Se bonds which find use in other organic transformations. This review focuses on the versatility of transition metal-mediated selenylation reactions, providing insights into various synthetic pathways and mechanistic details. Further, this review aims to offer a broad perspective for designing efficient and novel catalysts to incorporate organoselenium moiety into the inert C-H bonds.

Evidence of a Photoinduced Electron-Transfer Mechanism in the Fluorescence Self-quenching of 2,5-Substituted Selenophenes Prepared through In Situ Reduction of Elemental Selenium in Superbasic Media

A series of new 2,5-disubstituted selenophene derivatives are described from elemental selenium and 1,3-diynes in superbasic media. The activation of elemental selenium in a KOH/DMSO system allows cyclization with conjugated diynes at room temperature. The cyclization reaction is extended to a broad range of functional groups, for which photophysics were experimentally and theoretically investigated. The selenophene derivatives present absorption maxima in the UV-A region and fluorescence emission in the violet-to-blue region. Fluorescence decay profiles were obtained showing a monoexponential decay with fast fluorescence lifetimes (∼0.118 ns), as predicted by the Strickler-Berg relations. In general, in both investigations, no dependence on the solvent polarity on the absorption and emission maxima location was observed. On the other hand, solvents and substituents are shown to play a role in the fluorescence quantum yield values. In addition, a fluorescence self-quenching behavior could be observed, related to a photoinduced electron-transfer mechanism. Theoretical calculations performed at the MP2/ADC(2)/cc-pVDZ level of theory were performed in order to investigate the photophysical features of this series of selenophene derivatives.

Synthesis of 3,4-Bis(Butylselanyl)Selenophenes and 4-Alkoxyselenophenes Promoted by Oxone®

We describe herein an alternative transition-metal-free procedure to access 3,4-bis(butylselanyl)selenophenes and the so far unprecedented 3-(butylselanyl)-4-alkoxyselenophenes. The protocol involves the 5-endo-dig electrophilic cyclization of 1,3-diynes promoted by electrophilic organoselenium species, generated in situ through the oxidative cleavage of the Se-Se bond of dibutyl diselenide using Oxone^® as a green oxidant. The selective formation of the title products was achieved by controlling the solvent identity and the amount of dibutyl diselenide. By using 4.0 equiv of dibutyl diselenide and acetonitrile as solvent at 80 °C, four examples of 3,4-bis(butylselanyl)selenophenes were obtained in moderate to good yields (40–78%). When 3.0 equiv of dibutyl diselenide were used, in the presence of aliphatic alcohols as solvent/nucleophiles under reflux, 10 3-(butylselanyl)-4-alkoxyselenophenes were selectively obtained in low to good yields (15–80%).

Synthesis of selenated tetracyclic indoloazulenes via iodine and diorganyl diselenides

Herein, we report an efficient protocol for the synthesis of selenated tetracyclic indoloazulenes. The reaction of diorganyl diselenides with molecular iodine in dichloromethane leads to the in situ formation of organo selenenyl iodide. The synthesis of selenylated tetracyclic indoloazulenes through intramolecular cascade cyclization has been achieved via organo selenenyl iodide and bisindole at room temperature under metal-free conditions in good yields. All compounds were fully characterized by the FT-IR, HRMS, and ¹H, ¹³C and ⁷⁷Se NMR spectral data.

Diorganyl Dichalcogenides and Copper/Iron Salts: Versatile Cyclization System To Achieve Carbo- and Heterocycles from Alkynes

Organochalcogen-containing cyclic molecules have shown several promising pharmacological properties. Consequently, different strategies have been developed for their synthesis in the past few years. Particularly due to the low cost and environmental aspects, copper- and iron-promoted cyclization reactions of alkynyl substrates have been broadly and efficiently applied for this purpose. This short review presents an overview of the most recent advances in the synthesis of organochalcogen-containing carbo- and heterocycles by reacting diorganyl disulfides, diselenides, and ditellurides with alkyne derivatives in the presence of copper and iron salts to promote cyclization reactions.

1 Introduction

2 Synthesis of Carbo- and Heterocycles via Reactions of Alkynes with Diorganyl Dichalcogenides and Copper Salts

3 Synthesis of Carbo- and Heterocycles via Reactions of Alkynes with Diorganyl Dichalcogenides and Iron Salts

4 Conclusions

Serendipitous Formation of Various Selenium Heterocycles Hidden in the Classical Synthesis of Selenophene

Synthesis of complex di(selenophen-3-yl)diselenides and 3-methylene-3H-1,2-diselenoles directly from 1-bromobutadiynes is described. The transformation is performed under conditions used before for the synthesis of simple selenophenes from butadiynes. The reaction is operationally straightforward, and complex products were obtained in high yields. Structures of the final products were unambiguously confirmed by the means of 77Se NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Highly regio- and stereoselective synthesis of bis-sulfanyl substituted conjugated dienes by copper–palladium cooperative catalysis

An efficient one-pot method for the synthesis of (Z,Z)-isomers of 1,4-bis(sulfanyl)-1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadienes by the cooperative catalysis of Cu(Xantphos)I/Pd(OAc)₂ and a base has been developed.

Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Selenophenes and Their Derivatives

The selenophene derivatives are an important class of selenium-based heterocyclics. These compounds play an important role in prospecting new drugs, as well as in the development of new light-emitting materials. During the last years, several methods have been emerging to access the selenophene scaffold, employing a diversity of cyclization-based synthetic strategies, involving specific reaction partners and particularities. This review presents a comprehensive discussion on the recent advances in the synthesis of selenophene-based compounds, starting from different precursors, highlighting the main differences, the advantages, and limitations among them.

Synthesis and photophysical properties of selenopheno[2,3-b]quinoxaline and selenopheno[2,3-b]pyrazine heteroacenes

In this paper, we report the novel synthesis of three different heterocycles, namely 2-arylselenopheno[2,3-b]quinoxaline, 3-(aryl/alkylselanyl)-2-arylselenopheno[2,3-b]quinoxaline and 6-phenyl-7-(arylselanyl)selenopheno[2,3-b]pyrazine derivatives, from the corresponding 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline and 2,3-dichloropyrazine derivatives. Furthermore, photophysical properties were investigated to study the effect of heteroatoms on UV-absorbance and fluorescence properties.

In situ air oxidation and photophysical studies of isoquinoline-fused N-heteroacenes

An efficient, metal free and environment friendly synthesis of isoquinoline-fused benzimidazole has been developed via in situ air oxidation. Also, syntheses of isoquinoline-fused quinazolinone heteroacenes were successfully achieved. The synthesized isoquinoline-fused benzimidazole and isoquinoline-fused quinazolinone derivatives showed λmax, Fmax and Φf values in the ranges 356-394 nm, 403-444 nm and 0.063-0.471, respectively, in CHCl3.

Selenium and Tellurium Electrophiles in Organic Synthesis

This chapter highlights the utility of electrophilic achiral and chiral organoselenium reagents in organic synthesis. A range of reactions from alkene functionalizations, the functionalization of aliphatic and aromatic C–H bonds using stoichiometric and catalytic approaches as well as rearrangement reactions are described. In addition, the utility of organotellurium reagents in organic synthesis is covered in this chapter.

Iodine mediated in situ generation of R-Se–I: application towards the construction of pyrano[4,3-b]quinoline heterocycles and fluorescence properties

Iodine mediated in situ generation of R-Se–I and its application towards the construction of pyrano[4,3-b]quinolin-1-one derivatives.

Synthesis of disulfides tethered pyrroles from β-ketothioamides via a bicyclization/ring-opening/oxidative coupling reaction

A DABCO-promoted three-component reaction of β-ketothioamides, arylglyoxals and 2-cyanoacetate to construct disulfides tethered pyrroles has been developed.

(Biphenyl-2-alkyne) derivatives as common precursors for the synthesis of 9-iodo-10-organochalcogen-phenanthrenes and 9-organochalcogen-phenanthrenes

We present here our results on the cyclization of (biphenyl-2-ethynyl) selenides to give two different types of phenanthrene derivatives, 9-iodo-10-organochalcogen-phenanthrenes and 9-organochalcogen-phenanthrenes.