Transition-Metal-Free and Site-Selective Selenylation of Heterocyclic N-Oxides in Anisole as a Green Solvent

Transition-metal-free and site-selective C-H selenylation of heterocyclic N-oxides with diselenides is described. This method can be also applied for the formation of C2-sulfenylated and C2-tellurinated quinoline derivatives. Notably, the simple reaction conditions with the use of anisole as a green solvent have been employed in this coupling reaction. Combined mechanistic investigations elucidate a plausible reaction mechanism of this process. The synthetic transformations demonstrate the utility of the developed method.