Organoselenium ligands have attracted great attention among researchers during the past two decades. Various homogeneous, heterogeneous and nanocatalytic systems have been designed using such ligands. Although reports on selenium ligated homogeneous catalysts are quite high in number, significant work has also been done on the development of heterogeneous and nanocatalytic systems using organoselenium ligands. A review article, focusing on the utility of organoselenium compounds in the development of catalytic systems, was published in 2012 (A. Kumar, G. K. Rao, F. Saleem and A. K. Singh, Dalton Trans., 2012, 41, 11949). Moreover, it mainly covered the homogeneous catalysts. There are no review articles in the literature on heterogeneous and nanocatalytic systems designed using organoselenium compounds and their applications. Hence, this perspective aims to cover the developments pertaining to the synthetic aspects of such catalytic systems (using organoselenium compounds) and their applications in catalysis of a variety of chemical transformations. Salient features and advantages of organoselenium compounds have also been highlighted to justify the rationale behind their use in catalyst development. Their performance in various chemical transformations [viz. Suzuki–Miyaura coupling, Heck coupling, Sonogashira coupling, O-arylation of phenol, transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes and ketones, aldehyde–alkyne–amine (A³) coupling, hydration of nitriles, conversion of aldehydes to amides, cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC), photodegradation of substrates (formic acid, methylene blue), reduction of nitrophenols, electrolysis (hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reactions), organocatalysis and dye sensitized solar cells] and relevant aspects of catalytic processes (such as recyclability, substrate scope and green aspects) have been critically analyzed. Future perspectives have also been discussed.

First precursor-architecture controlled synthesis of Pd ₉ Te ₄ and PdTe nanostructures that have potential applications in Suzuki coupling of 4-chlorobenzaldehyde and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

The perspective covers S, Se or Te-ligated metal complexes and their catalytic applications in oxidation of alcohols and transfer hydrogenation.

Two chalcogenated ligands L1 and L2 containing anthracene core and amine functionality have been synthesized. Both the ligands have been characterized using ¹H and ¹³C{¹H} NMR techniques. The structure of L1 has also been corroborated by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Application of L1 and L2 as stabilizers for palladium nano-particles (NPs) has been explored and six different types of NPs 1–6 have been prepared by varying the quantity of stabilizer. The nano-particles have been characterized by PXRD, EDX, and HRTEM techniques. The size of NPs has been found to be in the range of ∼1–2 nm, 2–3 nm, 4–6 nm, 1–2 nm, 1–2 nm and 3–5 nm for 1–6 respectively. The catalytic activities of 1–6 have been explored for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of phenyl boronic acid with various aryl halides. These NPs showed good catalytic activity for various aryl chlorides/bromides at low catalyst loading (5 mg). Among 1–6, the highest activity has been observed for NPs 1, probably due to their relatively small size and high uniformity in the dispersion. The recyclability of the NPs upto 5 catalytic cycles is a distinct advantage.

Selective recognition of biorelevant Cu²⁺and Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ions using fluorescent Ru(ii)-polypyridyl based sensorsviaboth “turn-on” and “turn-off” emissive response is the main focus of present article.