Organotellurium compounds

chemical compound

chemical compound

thumbnail|Benzenetellurol: an example of a tellurol compound Tellurols are analogues of alcohols and phenols where tellurium replaces oxygen. Tellurols, selenols, and thiols have similar properties, but tellurols are the least stable. Although they are fundamental representatives of organotellurium compounds, tellurols are lightly studied because of their instability. Tellurol derivatives include telluroesters (RC(O)TeR') and tellurocyanates (RTeCN).

Methanetellurol is the organotellurium compound with the formula . It is the simplest organotellurium compound that has been purified in bulk. It is classified as a tellurol. A colorless gas, it decomposes to Te and methane near room temperature. It is prepared by reduction of dimethyl ditelluride using Na/Ammonia| followed by protonation of the (sodium methanetellurolate) with sulfuric acid. Few publications describe this compound as a consequence of its instability and paucity of applications.

Tellurocysteine (in some publications referred to as Te-Cys) is an amino acid with the formula . It is the heavy analogue of serine, cysteine, and selenocysteine. Tellurol (RTeH) is a rare and fragile functional group, especially alkyl derivatives. The C-Te bond (200 kJ/mol) is weak compared to 234 kJ/mol for the C-Se bond. These factors combine to make tellurocysteine very labile. Even selenocysteine occurs only rarely in nature. Instead of tellurocysteine, tellurocystine is generally isolated instead. Tellurocystine has the formula , with a central Te-Te bond. thumb|Structure of L-tellurocys

Benzenetellurol is an organotellurium compound with the chemical formula , often abbreviated as PhTeH, where Ph stands for phenyl. It is an analog of phenol , where oxygen is replaced by tellurium.

thumb|General struct telluroketone group A telluroketone is an analog of a ketone in which the oxygen atom has been replaced by a tellurium atom. This change makes the functional group less stable, due to the larger size and lower electronegativity of tellurium compared to oxygen. Telluroketones consequently require greater steric and electronic stabilization.