Most heteroaryl selenides and diselenides are biologically active, with some reported to act as antioxidants and show activities that are medicinally relevant; hence, the development of efficient methods for their synthesis is an important objective. Herein, a simple method for the synthesis of selenides and diselenides bearing imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine rings and their anticancer activity are described. The double C–H selenation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine with Se powder was catalyzed by CuI (10 mol %) ligated with 1,10-phenanthroline (10 mol %) at 130 °C under aerobic conditions. The selenides or diselenides were prepared almost selectively using selenium powder in an appropriate quantity under otherwise identical reaction conditions. The prepared selenides and diselenides bearing two imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine rings were all novel compounds. Among the prepared diselenides and selenides that exhibited cytotoxicity against cancer cells, bis[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl] diselenide showed an excellent anticancer activity and low cytotoxicity toward noncancer cells, suggesting that this diselenide is a potential lead compound for anticancer therapy.

中文翻译：

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双（2-芳基咪唑[1,2-a]吡啶-3-基）硒化物和二硒化物的合成及抗癌活性：2-芳基咪唑并[1,2-a]吡啶与硒的铜催化串联CH硒化。

大多数杂芳基硒化物和二硒化物具有生物活性，据报道其中一些充当抗氧化剂，并显示出与医学相关的活性。因此，开发有效的合成方法是一个重要的目标。在此，描述了一种简单的合成带有咪唑并[1,2- a ]吡啶环的硒化物和二硒化物的方法及其抗癌活性。咪唑[1,2- a]的双重C–H硒化在130℃，好氧条件下，通过与1，10-菲咯啉（10 mol％）连接的CuI（10 mol％）催化带有Se粉末的]吡啶。在适当的条件下，使用适当量的硒粉几乎可以选择性地制备硒化物或二硒化物。制备的带有两个咪唑并[1,2- a ]吡啶环的硒化物和二硒化物都是新颖的化合物。在所制备的对癌细胞具有细胞毒性的二硒化物和硒化物中，双[2-（4-甲氧基苯基）咪唑并[1,2 - a ]吡啶-3-基]二硒化物显示出优异的抗癌活性，并且对非癌细胞具有低细胞毒性，表明该二硒化物是抗癌治疗的潜在先导化合物。