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

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.