Functionalized tellurols: synthesis, spectroscopic characterization by photoelectron spectroscopy, and quantum chemical study.

Ethene-, cyclopropane-, 3-butene-, and cyclopropanemethanetellurol have been synthesized by reaction of tributyltin hydride with the corresponding ditellurides and characterized by 1H, 13C, and 125Te NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The tellurols of this series, with a gradually increasing distance between the tellurium atom and the unsaturated group, have been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. Two stable conformations of ethenetellurol and cyclopropanetellurol, five of allyltellurol, and four of cyclopropanemethanetellurol were found. In the photoelectron spectrum of vinyltellurol, the huge split between the first two bands indicates a direct interaction between the tellurium lone electron pair and the double bond. In the allyl derivative, a hyperconjugation effect was found for the most stable conformers. In contrast to the vinyl compounds, no direct interaction between the lone electron pair of X (X = O, S, Se, and Te) and the three-membered ring could be observed in the cyclopropyl derivatives. A hyperconjugation-like effect, which is independent of the relative orientation of the X-H group, is found to increase from S to Te. Thus, the type and extent of the interaction between the TeH group and an unsaturated or cyclopropyl moiety are clarified while the first comparison of interactions between the nonradioactive unsaturated chalcogen derivatives is performed.

Alkenyl selenols and selenocyanates: synthesis, spectroscopic characterization by photoelectron spectroscopy, and quantum chemical study.

Vinyl, allyl, and homoallyl selenols were easily prepared by a chemoselective reduction of the corresponding selenocyanates with aluminum hydrides. Two stable vinyl and five stable allyl conformers of both series were predicted on the potential-energy surface. The interaction of SeH or SeCN groups with the vinyl group has been investigated with UV photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations, using the MP2/cc-pVTZ and B3LYP/cc-pVTZ levels. In the vinyl derivatives, a surprisingly strong direct conjugation of the selenium lone electron pair and the C=C double bond was observed. On the other hand, in allyl position the selenium lone pair is independent on the C=C double bond, and the hyperconjugation between the Se-C bond and the double bond is the ruling effect. Thus is clarified the type and extent of the interaction between the SeH or SeCN group and the unsaturated moiety.