Selenomethoxylation of Alkenes Promoted by Oxone®

We describe herein an alternative method for the selenomethoxylation of unactivated alkenes using Oxone® as a stoichiometric oxidant. The electrophilic species of selenium were easily generated in situ by the reaction of diorganyl diselenides with Oxone®. By this efficient and simple approach, beta-methoxy-selenides were obtained in moderate to excellentyields at room temperature in an open flask, starting from alkenes by using methanol as both nucleophile and solvent. When a mixture of H2O/CH3CN was employed as the solvent, beta-hydroxy-selenides were selectively obtained under mild conditions.