Hydrogen selenide and methylselenol

Abstract

Publisher Summary Hydrogen selenide and related forms of selenium are difficult to handle. The absence of direct methods for identification of H2Se led to develop a method based on the use of Sanger's reagent (1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, FDNB) to trap H2Se in a stable form upon volatilization from acid medium in a stream of nitrogen. The method works equally well for volatile selenols, such as methylselenol. The selenide derivatives are extracted into benzene and identified by TLC, HPLC, or mass spectrometry. The method also can be applied to the analogous sulfur compounds, H2S and CH3SH. In the Selenium Volatilization Procedure, Volatile selenium is generated in a disposable apparatus. The selenium is trapped in scintillation counting vials so that 75Se-labeled samples can be assayed directly in a well-type gamma counter. The particular advantage of this method is that it permits the unequivocal identification of hydrogen selenide or other volatile selenols as stable, benzene-soluble derivatives. Any form of selenium that is reducible to hydrogen selenide can be identified using this procedure.