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In chemistry, an octatomic element is an element that, at some standard temperature and pressure, is in a configuration of eight atoms bound together (a homonuclear molecule). The canonical example is sulfur, S 8, [1] but red selenium is also an octatomic element stable at room temperature. Octaoxygen is also known, but it is extremely unstable.
Selenium is found in metal sulfide ores, where it substitutes for sulfur. Commercially, selenium is produced as a byproduct in the refining of these ores. Minerals that are pure selenide or selenate compounds are rare. The chief commercial uses for selenium today are glassmaking and pigments. Selenium is a semiconductor and is used in photocells.
The selenium cycle is a biological cycle of selenium similar to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Within the cycle, there are organisms which reduce the most oxidized form of the element and different organisms complete the cycle by oxidizing the reduced element to the initial state.
[1] [2] [3] Selenium belongs with oxygen and sulfur to the group 16 elements or chalcogens, and similarities in chemistry are to be expected. Organoselenium compounds are found at trace levels in ambient waters, soils and sediments. [4] Selenium can exist with oxidation state −2, +2, +4, +6. Se(II) is the dominant form in organoselenium ...
Selenium compounds are compounds containing the element selenium (Se). Among these compounds, selenium has various oxidation states , the most common ones being −2, +4, and +6. Selenium compounds exist in nature in the form of various minerals, such as clausthalite , guanajuatite , tiemannite , crookesite etc., and can also coexist with ...
At higher pH, selenide forms. Solutions of hydrogen selenide and selenide are oxidized by air to give elemental selenium: 2 SeH − + O 2 → 2 Se + 2 OH −. Most elements form selenides. They sometimes have salt-like properties, e.g. sodium selenide, but most exhibit covalent bonding, e.g. molybdenum diselenide. Their properties are diverse ...
Polyselenides are prone to decomposition on exposure to air, in which case they are oxidized back to elemental selenium. Se 2− n + 2 H + + 1 ⁄ 2 O 2 → n Se + H 2 O. As ligands in coordination complexs, polyselenides are generally bidentate. Complexes of penta-, tetra-, and triselenide ligands are known. One example is the spirocyclic [Zn ...
Selenium is a component of the amino acids selenocysteine and selenomethionine. In humans, selenium is a trace element nutrient that functions as cofactor for glutathione peroxidases and certain forms of thioredoxin reductase. [1] Selenium-containing proteins are produced from inorganic selenium via the intermediacy of selenophosphate (PSeO 3 3 ...