Recent Advances in Selenium-Mediated Redox Functional Group Interconversions

The conversion of a functional group into another represents the core of organic synthesis. Within the arena of functional group interconversions, oxidative and reductive transformations occupy a privileged position and the development of new sustainable, selective, and general methodologies continue to attract significant interest. Owing to the versatility of their chemistry, selenium compounds offer significant opportunities to achieve both oxidation and reduction of a wide range of functional groups. Additionally, the possibility to generate in situ the active oxidant or reducing selenium species from suitable inert precursors enables the development of catalytic processes. In this review, recent advances in selenium-mediated oxidative and reductive functional group interconversions, with particular emphasis on cutting-edge researches bringing about new insights into the comprehension of their mechanistic aspects, will be discussed.