Recent progress in the electrochemical selenofunctionalization of alkenes and alkynes

Abstract

Organoselenium compounds, a significant class of substances with applications in the biological, medicinal and material sciences as well as in modern organic synthesis, have attracted considerable attention from the scientific community. Consequently, an intriguing and trending research topic is the development of convenient, efficient, and sustainable methods for forming carbon-selenium (C–Se) bonds to access complex structures from simple starting materials. Over the last decade, electro-organic synthesis has gained recognition as a powerful and environmentally friendly tool for building chemical bonds. In particular, electrochemical selenofunctionalization of unsaturated bonds has emerged as an ideal and powerful route to obtain high-value selenylated products with reduced cost and waste. Thus, we outline recent progress in electrochemically enabled selenofunctionalization of alkenes and alkynes. The scope and limitations of these reactions and mechanisms are thoroughly discussed.