Chelate-Assisted Direct Selenation of Aryl C–H Bonds with Diselenides Catalyzed by Palladium

A direct selenation of inert C–H
bonds of benzamide derivatives
and their related compounds with diselenides has been achieved with
the palladium catalyst. The reaction was compatible with a variety
of functional groups, including a bromo group. Primitive mechanistic
insights revealed that the reaction proceeded through a C–H
bond cleavage and the sequential oxidative addition of diselenides.
The present synthetic method can be applied to the facile synthesis
of selenoxanthone which can be regarded as promising heterocyclic
materials.