Synthesis and Applications of Organic Selenols

Abstract

The synthesis and the study of organoselenium compounds have received much attention over the past decades. Selenium-containing organic molecules are widely used in organic synthesis, materials science, and medicinal chemistry. Selenium – and more specifically the amino acid selenocysteine, bearing a selenol (SeH) moiety – is present in at least 25 human protein families, whose biological functions have not been completely identified. Amongst the variety of organoselenium compounds, selenols are a versatile class of molecules easily undergoing a broad array of useful transformations. Because of the unique properties of the SeH group, selenol chemistry has important applications in chemical sciences, spanning from organic synthesis to materials chemistry and biology. This review summarises currently available methodologies for the synthesis of selenols and highlights applications of selenols in chemical sciences and biology. (Figure presented.).