Novel sulfur and selenium-containing antioxidants: Synthesis and evaluation of their GPx-like activity

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

New linear and cyclic chalcogen-containing compounds have been synthesized exploiting the reactivity of bis(trimethylsilyl)selenide with strained heterocycles. A simple and efficient procedure allowed a selective access to β-functionalized selenides, diselenides, and dithiaselenepanes under mild conditions. Antioxidant catalytic activity of these compounds was investigated in the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with dithiothreitol (DTT^red). According to this assay, some of the synthesized structures exhibited a remarkable glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Antioxidants
• glutathione peroxidase (GPx)
• selenium, selenosilanes
• biological activity