Phenyl tributylstannyl selenide as a promising reagent for introduction [corrected] of the phenylseleno group.

A new synthetic method of organoselenium compounds has been developed. When phenyl tributylstannyl selenide (PhSeSnBu(3)) was allowed to react with acyl or aroyl chlorides in the presence of a catalytic amount of a palladium complex such as Pd(PPh(3))(4), Se-phenyl selenol esters were obtained in moderate to good yields. Similarly, the palladium complex catalyzed the reaction of PhSeSnBu(3) with alpha-halo carbonyl compounds to afford the corresponding alpha-phenyseleno carbonyl compounds in moderate yields.