Studies on the selective synthesis of diorganyl diselenides using potassium hydroxide and mechanistic investigations of the reaction pathway

Abstract

Methods of selectively synthesizing diorganyl diselenides (R–Se–Se–R) without using harmful reducing agents are presented. We optimized the reaction conditions for the selective formation of the diselenide dianion (Se₂²⁻) and the corresponding diorganyl diselenides using basic reagents (e.g., KOH), while suppressing the formation of side products, such as diorganyl selenides (R–Se–R) or multiselenides (R–Se_n–R; n ≥ 3). Furthermore, we have suggested and examined the reaction pathways responsible for the formation of the desired diorganyl diselenides 1 and side products 2 and 3. Consequently, the selective synthesis of diverse diorganyl diselenides was achieved with modest to excellent yields (33–99%) using various organyl halides under optimized conditions. The results provide a practical and efficient synthetic method for diorganyl diselenides as a representative class of organoselenium compounds.