Glycerol/hypophosphorous acid: an efficient system solvent-reducing agent for the synthesis of 2-organylselanyl pyridines

We describe herein an efficient and simple method to synthesize 2-organylselanyl pyridines by reactions of 2-chloropyridines with organylselenols, generated in situ by reaction of diorganyl diselenides, using glycerol as solvent and hypophosphorous acid (H3PO2) as reducing agent. Using this methodology, a range of selenium substituted pyridines was obtained in high yields. The system solvent-reducing agent glycerol/H3PO2 can be easily recovered and reused for five times without loss of efficiency.