Organoselenium compound
Organoselenium compounds are chemical compounds containing carbon-to-selenium chemical bonds. Organoselenium chemistry is the corresponding science exploring their properties and reactivity. Selenium belongs with oxygen and sulfur to the group 16 elements or chalcogens, and similarities in chemistry are to be expected.
Selenium can exist with oxidation state -2, +2, +4, +6. Se(II) is the dominant form in organoselenium chemistry. Down the group 16 column, the bond strength becomes increasingly weaker (234 kJ/mol for the C–Se bond and 272 kJ/mol for the C–S bond) and the bond lengths longer (C–Se 198 pm, C–S 181 pm and C–O 141 pm). Selenium compounds are more nucleophilic than the corresponding sulfur compounds and also more acidic. The pKa values of XH2 are 16 for oxygen, 7 for sulfur and 3.8 for selenium. In contrast to sulfoxides, the corresponding selenoxides are unstable in the presence of β-protons and this property is utilized in many organic reactions of selenium, notably in selenoxide oxidations and in selenoxide eliminations. Organoselenium compounds are found at trace levels in ambient waters, soils and sediments.
The first organoselenium compound ever isolated was diethyl selenide in 1836.
Selenium, in the form of organoselenium compounds, is an essential micronutrient whose absence from the diet causes cardiac muscle and skeletal dysfunction. Organoselenium compounds are required for cellular defense against oxidative damage and for the correct functioning of the immune system. They may also play a role in prevention of premature aging and cancer. The source of Se used in biosynthesis is selenophosphate.
Glutathione oxidase is an enzyme with a selenol at its active site. Organoselenium compounds have been found in higher plants. For example, upon analysis of garlic using the technique of high-performance liquid chromatography combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS), it was found that γ-glutamyl-Se-methylselenocysteine was the major Se-containing component, along with lesser amounts of Se-methylselenocysteine. Trace quantities of dimethyl selenide and allyl methyl selenide are found in human breath after consuming raw garlic.
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