Silver‐Catalyzed One‐Pot Three‐Component Selective Synthesis of β‐Hydroxy Selenides

Abstract A convenient, multi‐component reaction of organoboronic acids, selenium powder and epoxides has been developed, providing an efficient protocol for the synthesis of β‐hydroxy selenides with excellent selectivity and good functional group tolerance. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction proceeds through the silver‐catalyzed radical selenation of the arylboronic acids to generate a diselenide, and subsequent selenium‐mediated selective ring‐opening arylselenation of epoxides. magnified image