The organoselenium and organotellurium compounds have been described as promising pharmacological agents in view of their unique biological properties. Glutathione peroxidase mimic, antioxidant activity and thioredoxin reductase inhibition are some of the properties reviewed here. On the other hand, little is known about the molecular toxicological effects of organoselenium and organotellurium compounds. Most of our knowledge arose from research on inorganic selenium and tellurium. However, the ability to oxidize sulfhydryl groups from biological molecules can be involved both in their pharmacological properties and in their toxicological effects. In fact, exposition to high doses of organoselenium or to low doses of organotellurium causes the depletion of endogenous reduced glutathione in a variety of tissues. Thus, the design of compounds that cause low depletion of glutathione and react with specific targeted proteins, controlling specific metabolic pathways, will represent an important progress in understanding the field of organochalcogen compounds. Furthermore, the development of new organochalcogens with higher thiol-peroxidase activity that can use other non-toxic thiol reducing agents, such as N-acetylcysteine instead of glutathione, will permit the investigation of the co-administration of organochalcogens and thiols as a formulation for antioxidant therapy.

Organoselenium and Organotellurium Compounds: Toxicology and Pharmacology

Chemistry of biologically important synthetic organoselenium compounds.

Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the biological system's ability to detoxify these reactive intermediates. Mammalian cells have elaborate antioxidant defense mechanisms to control the damaging effects of ROS. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), a selenoenzyme, plays a key role in protecting the organism from oxidative damage by catalyzing the reduction of harmful hydroperoxides with thiol cofactors. The selenocysteine residue at the active site forms a "catalytic triad" with tryptophan and glutamine, which activates the selenium moiety for an efficient reduction of peroxides. After the discovery that ebselen, a synthetic organoselenium compound, mimics the catalytic activity of GPx both in vitro and in vivo, several research groups developed a number of small-molecule selenium compounds as functional mimics of GPx, either by modifying the basic structure of ebselen or by incorporating some structural features of the native enzyme. The synthetic mimics reported in the literature can be classified in three major categories: (i) cyclic selenenyl amides having a Se-N bond, (ii) diaryl diselenides, and (iii) aromatic or aliphatic monoselenides. Recent studies show that ebselen exhibits very poor GPx activity when aryl or benzylic thiols such as PhSH or BnSH are used as cosubstrates. Because the catalytic activity of each GPx mimic largely depends on the thiol cosubstrates used, the difference in the thiols causes the discrepancies observed in different studies. In this Account, we demonstrate the effect of amide and amine substituents on the GPx activity of various organoselenium compounds. The existence of strong Se···O/N interactions in the selenenyl sulfide intermediates significantly reduces the GPx activity. These interactions facilitate an attack of thiol at selenium rather than at sulfur, leading to thiol exchange reactions that hamper the formation of catalytically active selenol. Therefore, any substituent capable of enhancing the nucleophilic attack of thiol at sulfur in the selenenyl sulfide state would enhance the antioxidant potency of organoselenium compounds. Interestingly, replacement of the sec-amide substituent by a tert-amide group leads to a weakening of Se···O interactions in the selenenyl sulfide intermediates. This modification results in 10- to 20-fold enhancements in the catalytic activities. Another strategy involving the replacement of tert-amide moieties by tert-amino substituents further increases the activity by 3- to 4-fold. The most effective modification so far in benzylamine-based GPx mimics appears to be either the replacement of a tert-amino substituent by a sec-amino group or the introduction of an additional 6-methoxy group in the phenyl ring. These strategies can contribute to a remarkable enhancement in the GPx activity. In addition to enhancing catalytic activity, a change in the substituents near the selenium moiety alters the catalytic mechanisms. The mechanistic investigations of functional mimics are useful not only for understanding the complex chemistry at the active site of GPx but also for designing and synthesizing novel antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.

Functional mimics of glutathione peroxidase: bioinspired synthetic antioxidants.

In 1836 the first organoselenium compound, diethyl selenide, was prepared by Löwig,1 and it was isolated in the pure form in 1869.2 Early selenium chemistry involved the synthesis of simple aliphatic compounds such as selenols (RSeH), selenides (RSeR), and diselenides (RSeSeR); however, because of their malodorous nature, these compounds were difficult to handle. This, combined with the instability of certain derivatives and difficulties in purification, meant that selenium chemistry was slow to develop. By the 1950s, the number of known selenium compounds had increased significantly, but it was not until the 1970s, when several new reactions leading to novel compounds with unusual properties were discovered, that selenium chemistry began to attract more general interest.3-9 Aryl-substituted compounds were synthesized that were found to be less volatile and more pleasant to handle than the earlier aliphatic compounds. Compounds containing selenium in high oxidation states are relatively easy to manipulate using modern techniques.4c Organoselenium chemistry has now become a well-established field of research, and recent advances have been brought about by the potential technical applications of selenium compounds. Today selenium compounds find application in many areas including organic synthesis,4 biochemistry,5 xerography,6 the synthesis of conducting materials7 and semiconductors,8 and ligand chemistry.4c,9 Many of these aspects of selenium chemistry are wellcovered elsewhere in the literature; however, the subject of hypervalency has not attracted much attention and is the focus of this review.10

Organoselenium chemistry: role of intramolecular interactions.

ConspectusIn an aerobic organism, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are an inevitable metabolic byproduct. Endogenously produced ROS have a significant role in physiological processes, but excess ROS can cause oxidative stress and can damage tissue. Cells possess elaborate mechanisms to regulate their internal redox status. The intracellular redox homeostasis plays an essential role in maintaining cellular function. However, moderate alterations in redox balance can accompany major transitions in a cell’s life cycle. Because of the role of ROS in physiology and in pathology, researchers need new tools to study redox chemistry in biological systems.In recent years, researchers have made remarkable progress in developing new, highly sensitive and selective fluorescent probes that respond to redox changes, and in this Account we highlight related research, primarily from our own group. We present an overview of the design, photophysical properties, and fluorescence transduction mechanisms of reported molecules t...

Redox-Responsive Fluorescent Probes with Different Design Strategies

The synthesis, structure, and thiol peroxidase-like antioxidant activities of several diaryl diselenides having intramolecularly coordinating amino groups are described. The diselenides derived from enantiomerically pure R-(+)- and S-(-)-N,N-dimethyl(1-ferrocenylethyl)amine show excellent peroxidase activity. To investigate the mechanistic role of various organoselenium intermediates, a detailed in situ characterization of the intermediates has been carried out by (77)Se NMR spectroscopy. While most of the diselenides exert their peroxidase activity via selenol, selenenic acid, and selenenyl sulfide intermediates, the differences in the relative activities of the diselenides are due to the varying degree of intramolecular Se.N interaction. The diselenides having strong Se.N interactions are found to be inactive due to the ability of their selenenyl sulfide derivatives to enhance the reverse GPx cycle (RSeSR + H(2)O(2) = RSeOH). In these cases, the nucleophilic attack of thiol takes place preferentially at selenium rather than sulfur and this reduces the formation of selenol by terminating the forward reaction. On the other hand, the diselenides having weak Se.N interactions are found to be more active due to the fast reaction of the selenenyl sulfide derivatives with thiol to produce diphenyl disulfide and the expected selenol (RSeSR + PhSH = PhSSPh + RSeH). The unsubstituted diaryl diselenides are found to be less active due to the slow reactions of these diselenides with thiol and hydrogen peroxide and also due to the instability of the intermediates. The catalytic cycles of 18 and 19 strongly resemble the mechanism by which the natural enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, catalyzes the reduction of hydroperoxides.

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Glutathione peroxidase-like antioxidant activity of diaryl diselenides: a mechanistic study.

A series of novel low-valent organoselenium compounds stabilized by Se···N intramolecular 

interactions (such as the one in the figure) were synthesized, characterized, and examined for Se···N nonbonding 

interactions. A correlation between Se···N intramolecular distance and 77 Se chemical shift is 

attempted.

Intramolecular Se⋅⋅⋅N Nonbonding Interactions in Low‐Valent Organoselenium Derivatives: A Detailed Study by 1H and 77Se NMR Spectroscopy and X‐ray Crystallography

Arunashree Panda

Papers

Glutathione peroxidase-like antioxidant activity of diaryl diselenides: a mechanistic study.

Intramolecular Se⋅⋅⋅N Nonbonding Interactions in Low‐Valent Organoselenium Derivatives: A Detailed Study by 1H and 77Se NMR Spectroscopy and X‐ray Crystallography

Synthesis, structure, and reactivity of organochalcogen (Se, Te) compounds derived from 1-(N,N-dimethylamino)naphthalene and N,N-dimethylbenzylamine

Diferrocenyl diselenides: excellent thiol peroxidase-like antioxidants

Intramolecularly Coordinated Diorganyl Ditellurides: Thiol Peroxidase-like Antioxidants