Unlocking Tellurium‐Centered Radicals: From Intermediates in Total Organic Syntheses to Stable Organotellurides and Catalysts

Abstract

In this perspective, organotellurium compounds will be examined across three key areas: the synthesis of organic substrates bearing tellurium (Section 2), their use as carbon-centered radical precursors (Section 3), and their role as organocatalysts (Section 4). All these areas will include the tellurium radical as an intermediate. A noteworthy property of tellurium is its so-called chalcogen bonding (ChB) capacity, a non-covalent interaction in which chalcogen atoms function as Lewis acid sites, interacting with atoms or groups capable of acting as Lewis bases through their lone pairs or π electrons, in a manner akin to halogen bonding. This salient property of tellurium outperforms that of its lighter sulfur and selenium counterparts and drives the use of tellurium compounds as catalysts in organic transformations and other numerous reactions