Synthesis of Diaryl Diselenides and Ditellurides via Bromide-Catalyzed C–Se/C–Te Bond Formation Using Se/Te Powder and Boronic Acid

Abstract

Diaryl diselenides and diaryl ditellurides are usually employed as the selenyl or telluryl source which show wide applications in organic synthesis. Herein, various diaryl diselenides/ditellurides are smoothly furnished in moderate to excellent yields under metal-free conditions are disclosed. This method feature high efficiency, good functional group tolerance, easy operation, and easy scale-up (running in 4 mmol-scale for most cases). The mechanistic experiments indicate that this reaction is possibly running via a radical pathway. Significantly, the correct matching of Br- and dimethyl sulfoxide under air atmosphere is critical to this transformation.