Radicals from Selenium Heterocycles

The direct combination of selenium and acetylene provides the most convenient source of selenophene (76JHC1319). Lesser amounts of many other compounds are formed concurrently and include 2- and 3-alkylselenophenes, benzo[6]selenophene and isomeric selenoloselenophenes (76CS(10)159). The commercial availability of thiophene makes comparable reactions of little interest for the obtention of the parent heterocycle in the laboratory. However, the reaction of substituted acetylenes with morpholinyl disulfide is of some synthetic value. The process, which appears to entail the initial formation of thionitroxyl radicals, converts phenylacetylene into a 3 1 mixture of 2,4- and 2,5-diphenylthiophene, methyl propiolate into dimethyl thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate, and ethyl phenylpropiolate into diethyl 3,4-diphenylthiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate (Scheme 83a) (77TL3413). Dimethyl thiophene-2,4-dicarboxylate is obtained from methyl propiolate by treatment with dimethyl sulfoxide and thionyl chloride (Scheme 83b) (66CB1558). The rhodium carbonyl catalyzed carbonylation of alkynes in alcohols provides 5-alkoxy-2(5//)-furanones (Scheme 83c) (81CL993). The inclusion of ethylene provides 5-ethyl-2(5//)-furanones instead (82NKK242). The nickel acetate catalyzed addition of r-butyl isocyanide to alkynes provides access to 2-aminopyrroles (Scheme 83d) (70S593). 

There are a number of synthetically important applications, involving these heterocycles, as unstable intermediates, which are reviewed here. These applications feature the ability of selenium to be readily extruded from seleniranes and selenirenes, neighboring group participation by / -Se to control the stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution reactions, and facile, chemoselective replacement of Se by H in radical-induced reactions. 

The mass spectra of a number of heterocyclic compounds have been reported. The fragmentation patterns of thiophosphoryl derivatives of phosphorinanes are sensitive to stereochemistry, thus for the series (95) facile loss of the HS radical is indicative of an axial PS bond. The seven-membered heterocycles (96 Ch = S, Se) undergo a remarkable migration of sulphur or selenium from phosphorus to carbon with ring cleavage. While exocyclic P-C bonds of five-and six-membered heterocycles in the phosphonic class may be readily cleaved with retention of the phosphorus ring system, the seven-membered ring (97) exhibits facile expulsion of a phosphorus radical. ... 

Various benzoselenophenes 106 were successfully prepared using the Sni reaction at selenium. Selenides 104, readily prepared from the corresponding epoxides, react under standard radical conditions by homolytic substitution at selenium to the heterocycles 105. Water elimination finally provides the benzoselenophenes 106 in high yields (Equation 13.17) [165, 166]. In analogy, Te-containing heterocycles can also be prepared [166, 167]. 

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