Selenium-Epoxy ‘Click’ Reaction and Se-Alkylation—Efficient Access to Organo-Selenium and Selenonium Compounds

This work establishes the ‘click’ nature of the base-catalyzed oxirane ring opening reaction by the selenolate nucleophile. The ‘click’-generated ß-hydroxy selenide can be alkylated to afford cationic selenium species. Hemolytic studies suggest that selenonium cations do not lyse red blood cells even at high concentrations. Overall, these results indicate the future applicability of the developed organo-selenium chemistry in the preparation of a new class of cationic materials based on the seleno-ether motif.