Selenium nucleophiles, Michael addition

Like oxygen nucleophiles, phosphorus and selenium nucleophiles have been employed rarely in Michael additions to activated dienes. The reaction of phosphites with acceptor-substituted dienes was studied by several Russian groups116-118 again, 1,6-adducts and 2 1 addition products were formed (equation 37). The acid-catalyzed reaction of selenourea with sorbic acid was also reported to provide a 1,6-addition product119 (equation 38). 

The Michael additions to 1 - 3 of a large variety of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and selenium nucleophiles, as well as hydride, followed by inter- or intramolecular transformations of the chlorine substituent or/and the methoxy-carbonyl fragment, offer versatile synthetic approaches to a large variety of synthetically useful and important organic molecules. 

Michael reactions of a,/Uunsaturated carbonyl compounds 95 using selenium nucleophiles afford (3-seleno carbonyl derivatives 96 usually in good yields.1 This reaction has been used as a protection strategy for the a,/ -unsaturated double bond, because an oxidative elimination of the selenium moiety in 96 leads to the regeneration of the double bond.176 Such reactions have also been applied to natural product synthesis177 and in asymmetric versions of Michael additions in the presence of alkaloids as chiral ligands (Scheme 22).178... 

Treatment of a, -unsaturated carbonyl compounds 18 with nucleophilic selenium species affords -seleno carbonyl compounds 19 in good yields via Michael addition (Scheme 27) [46]. This reaction has been applied to protect a, -unsa-turated lactones [47], in natural product synthesis [48], and in asymmetric Michael additions in the presence of an alkaloid [49]. Michael addition also proceeds with selenolates that are prepared from diphenyl diselenide by cathodic reduction [22], reduction with the Sm-Me3SiCl-H20 system [19], and reduction with tributyl phosphine [25]. 

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