Selenium is an essential trace element in living organisms, and is present in selenoenzymes with antioxidant activity, like glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). The search for small selenium-containing molecules that mimic selenoenzymes is a strong field of research in organic and medicinal chemistry. In this review, we review the synthesis and bioassays of new and known organoselenium compounds with antioxidant activity, covering the last five years. A detailed description of the synthetic procedures and the performed in vitro and in vivo bioassays is presented, highlighting the most active compounds in each series.

In the present work, a mild protocol was developed to construct 2‐aryl‐3‐(arylselanyl)imidazo[1,2‐ a ]pyridines, under blue light irradiation, employing benzeneseleninic acid derivatives as a Se(II) source. The experimental design approach (design of experiment, DoE) was used to establish the best reaction conditions, which delivered fourteen derivatives in moderate to good yields (23%–75%), after reacting for 24–48 h. Furthermore, the developed method proved to be efficient when increasing the reaction scale (2.5 mmol), which provided the desired product in 70% yield (0.61 g) after 24 h of reaction, demonstrating the applicability of this method on a preparative scale. The present approach does not require the use of metals, strong oxidants, or heating, in addition to producing only H ₂ O and diaryl diselenide as byproducts, which can be recovered and reused.