Phenylselenotris(trimethylsilyl)silane and phenyltellurotris(trimethylsilyl)silane: versatile reagents for the preparation of phenylseleno- and phenyltelluro-formates

Phenyltellurotris(trimethylsilyl)silane 4 and (4-fluorophenyltelluro)tris(trimethylsilyl)silane 5 react with methyl, 2-methylpropyl, cyclohexyl and phenyl substituted chloroformates (7, 11, 15, 19) in benzene and in the presence of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (4 mol%) to afford the corresponding aryltelluroformate (8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21) in 50–79% yield; this procedure is also applicable to the preparation of (phenylseleno)formates and seleno- and telluro-esters.