l-Selenocystine (5) and l-tellurocystine (6) have been prepared and the reactivity of these amino acids, i.e., oxidation of 5 and 6, has been performed at various pH values. Hydrogen peroxide was used as an oxidant and it was treated with 5 and 6 in excess in acidic and basic media. Compound 5, upon oxidation, afforded Se and Se products. Selenocysteic acid [HO SeCH CH(NH )COOH] 9, a novel Se compound, was isolated and characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. In contrast, l-tellurocystine, upon oxidation with H O , afforded Te and Te products. Zwitterionic organotellurolate(IV), [TeCl CH CH(NH )COOH] 13, was isolated and characterised by NMR and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Compound 13 crystallizes in an orthorhombic space group. l-Tellurocystine, when reduced with NaBH , produced the desired tellurolate intermediate, which was trapped with bromoacetic acid. Furthermore, l- and d-tellurocysteine derivatives, [(RTeCH CH(NH )COOH) R=phenyl, substituted phenyl and naphthyl (24-39)] were synthesised and evaluated for their glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like activities. The results show that l-tellurocysteine derivatives have higher activity than their D-tellurocysteine analogues. DFT calculations for l-tellurocysteine derivatives provided information about the bond lengths and bond angles. This study reveals that the introduction of naphthyl substituents (35-38) leads to twisted conformation of the amino acid derivatives.