Reaction of Areneselenyl Chlorides and alkenes. An example of Nucleophilic Displacement at Bivalent Selenium

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00171a002

The effect of substituents in the phenyl ring of both the electrophile and the alkene has been studied in the reaction of areneselenyl chlorides and (E)- and (Z)-1-phenylpropenes.Electron-donating groups in both phenyl rings enhance the rate of reaction.Viewing this reaction as a nucleophilic displacement at bivalent selenium leads to a model that allows the possibility of reaction by a continuum of mechanisms.These mechanisms differ only in the relative amounts of C-Se bond making and Se-Cl bond breaking in the rate-determining transition state.From our data, it is concluded that C-Se bond making lags behind Se-Cl bond breaking in the rate determining transition state.