An efficient synthesis of 2,4-bis(phenyl)-1,3-diselenadiphosphetane-2,4-diselenide (Woollins’ Reagent)

Authors are grateful to the University of St Andrews for financial support. ; An improved approach for the preparation of 2,4-bis(phenyl)-1,3-diselena-2,4-diphosphetane-2,4-diselenide (Woollins’ reagent) is described. Reacting dichlorophenylphosphine with Na2Se which was in-situ prepared from the reaction of elemental selenium and metal sodium in the presence of naphthalene in refluxing THF generated Wooollins’ reagent with ex-cellent purity and yield of up to 96.4%. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed