Synthesis and characterization of some α-naphthyl selenium/tellurium derivatives: X-ray crystal structure of benzyl-1-naphthyl selenide and diphenylmethyl-1-naphthyl selenide

A large number of α-naphthyl selenium and tellurium compounds (1–14) have been prepared through two different methods. The first method involves the alkylation of sodium 1-naphthylselenolate/tellurolate, generated in situ using hydrazine hydrate as reducing agent while the second method involves the reaction of in situ generated α-naphthylseleno/telluromagnesium bromide with an appropriate electrophile. The synthesized alkyl-1-naphthyl selenides/tellurides and some α,ω-bis(1-naphthylseleno)alkanes have been characterized with the help of elemental analysis and using various spectroscopic techniques viz., NMR (1H, 13C, 77Se and 125Te), IR, UV/vis spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (only in few representative cases). Interpretation of 1H, 13C NMR spectra and assignment of individual resonances for tris(1-naphthylseleno)methane have been done with the help of [1H–1H] and [1H–13C] correlation spectroscopy (COSY). X-ray crystallographic results and molecular geometry of benzyl-1-naphthyl selenide, 2 and diphenylmethyl-1-naphthyl selenide, 3 have also been illustrated.