Selenols from selenium

Nickel-selenium coordination compounds have received attention in recent years, because a unique Ni-selenocysteine interaction was revealed in the active site of [FeNiSe]-hydrogenases.1083,1084 Of particular interest in this regard are mixed CO/selenolate complexes. Distorted square planar (393) was prepared from [CpNi(CO)]2, PhSeSePh, and [Fe(CO)3(SePh)3] and provides the first example of CO bound to a square planar Ni11 center in thiolate/selenolate environment.1085,1086 Upon addition of RSSR, species of the series [Ni(CO)(SR) (SePh)3 ] are formed. //(CO) ranges from 2,023 cm-1 to 2,043 cm-1 and is regarded as a spectroscopic reference for the CO binding site in [NiFeSe] hydrogenases. 

Although in humans only MsrBl is a selenoprotein, the depletion of selenium from the diet of mice led to increases in both R and S stereoisomers. This was not initially explained, yet a subsequent study has shown that small molecule selenols (organic selenocysteine homologues) could act as efficient electron donors in vitro for MsrA enzymes. ° This effect has only been shown in vitro, but the possibility that small molecular selenium reductants, or more likely that some selenoproteins that contain reduced selenols (in redox-active motifs) is quite intriguing. Several small selenoproteins do not have real roles and reside in nearly all subcompartments of the cell (mitochondria, ER) where electron donors for Msr enzymes are probably critical to maintain protein stability. Low selenium nutritional status would then have a significant impact on all methionine oxidation, as Future studies to address selenium nutrition and methionine oxidation could prove to be... 

Hydrazine155,156 or samarium diiodide157-162 are other useful reagents for the synthesis of selenolates, but electrochemical methods163,164 have also been employed for their selective synthesis from diselenides. Starting from elemental selenium, selenolates 80 can easily be prepared by insertion reactions of selenium into organolithium... 

Selenolate 77, prepared from diselenides with sodium borohydride, is also not reactive enough for reactions with esters or lactones. Only under higher reaction temperatures, lactones 90 can be ring opened with selenolates to the corresponding carboxylic acids 91.173,174 The selenium moiety can then be used for further manipulations. Using similar reaction conditions, esters 92 can be converted to the corresponding carboxylic acids 93 and selenides 94 (Scheme 21).149... 

Also widely employed are organoselenium compounds containing group 14 elements. Phenyl trimethylsilyl selenide 102 can be easily prepared from diphenyl diselenide 8 and is a good source for selenium nucleophiles (Scheme 24). In the presence of methanol selenols are generated for use in Michael reactions or in ring-... 

The nucleophilicity of selenolates is significantly higher than that of the corresponding thiolates. This property allows selenolates to be useful reagents in organic synthesis. Moreover, removal of the selenium moiety from the reaction products is easier because the selenium - carbon bond is weaker than the sulfur-carbon bond [3 b]. 

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]. 

In earlier work,i 3 Allinger et al. determined MM2 parameters for organoselenium and -tellurium compounds. The selenium parameters were fit to structures and vibrational frequencies of methyl selenol, dimethyl selenide, ethyl selenol, and tetrahydroselenophene. The structures of the tellurium analogs were also calculated, but since only a bond length for Te—C and a bond angle for C-Te-C from dimethyltelluride were known, the authors were unable to compare the results to experimental data. 

For the synthesis of a-selenoalkyllithiums, the selenium-lithium exchange reaction is a good alternative to the almost impossible metallation of unactivated selenides.Thus it has been found that a large variety of selenoacetals, often readily available from carbonyl compounds and selenols, react with butyllithiums to provide a-selenoalkyllithiums - in very high yields (Scheme 2 see also Section 2.6.2.3). 

In 1962 Renson et al. reported that a variety of selenol esters can be synthesized by the reaction of the appropriate acyl chlorides with selenols in the presence of pyridine. - Selenols can easily be prepared from elemental selenium and the corresponding Grignard reagents. In addition to simple selenol esters, a,P-unsaturated selenol esters (4) and (5) and o-substituted aromatic selenol esters (6) have been obtained by this method, as shown in Scheme 1. Butyl selenol esters are generally colorless or light yellow liquids, whereas the phenyl or substituted phenyl selenol esters are white solids, which are easily purified by recrystallization. More recently other groups have used Renson s method to synthesize similar selenol esters. " ... 

The removal of sulfur and selenium atoms from compounds (32) and (33) using triphenylphosphine easily furnished the corresponding selenol esters (equation 13). ... 

Selenomethionine metabolism to selenide and the incorporation into selenium-specific proteins may occur by two pathways metabolism to methane selenol and selenide or via selenocysteine. Evidence that the incorporation of selenium from selenomethionine into protein is by the transsulfuration pathway (methionine to cysteine) comes from studies of selenomethionine metabolism in lymphoblast cell lines deficient in cystathionine lyase and cystathionine synthetase, enzymes of the transsulfuration pathway (Beilstein and Whanger 1992). Deficiency in these enzymes greatly reduces the incorporation of selenomethionine into glutathione peroxidase. 

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