Sodium selenide is an

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...

and

selenium Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...

with the

chemical formula In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, ...

Na₂Se.

Preparation

This colourless solid is prepared by the reaction of selenium with a solution of sodium in liquid ammonia at −40 °C.Brauer, G. ed. (1963) ''Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry'', 2nd Ed., Academic Press, NY., Vol. 1. p. 421. Alternatively, sodium selenide can be prepared by the reaction of gaseous

hydrogen selenide Hydrogen selenide is an inorganic compound with the formula H2Se. This hydrogen chalcogenide is the simplest and most commonly encountered hydride of selenium. H2Se is a colorless, flammable gas under standard conditions. It is the most toxic sele ...

with metallic sodium at 100 °C.

Reactions

Like other alkali metal

chalcogenide : 220px, Cadmium sulfide, a prototypical metal chalcogenide, is used as a yellow pigment. A chalcogenide is a chemical compound consisting of at least one chalcogen anion and at least one more electropositive element. Although all group 16 elements ...

s, this material is highly sensitive to water, easily undergoing hydrolysis to give mixtures of sodium biselenide (NaSeH) and hydroxide. This hydrolysis occurs because of the extreme basicity of the Se²⁻ ion. :Na₂Se + H₂O → NaHSe + NaOH Similarly, sodium selenide is readily oxidized to

polyselenide In chemistry, a polyselenide usually refers to anions of the formula (Sen)2-, where Se is the atomic symbol for the element selenium. Many main group and transition metals form complexes with polyselenide anions. Preparation Conceptually, polyse ...

s, a conversion signaled by off-white samples. Sodium selenide reacts with

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

s to produce toxic

gas. :Na₂Se + 2 HCl → H₂Se + 2 NaCl The compound reacts with electrophiles to produce the selenium compounds. With alkyl halides, one obtains a variety of

organoselenium compound Organoselenium compounds (or seleno-organic) are chemical compounds containing carbon-to-selenium chemical bonds. Organoselenium chemistry is the corresponding science exploring their properties and reactivity. Selenium belongs with oxygen and sulf ...

s: :Na₂Se + 2 RBr → R₂Se + 2 NaBr

Organotin Organotin compounds or stannanes are chemical compounds based on tin with hydrocarbon substituents. Organotin chemistry is part of the wider field of organometallic chemistry. The first organotin compound was diethyltin diiodide (), discovered by ...

and

organosilicon Organosilicon compounds are organometallic compounds containing carbon–silicon bonds. Organosilicon chemistry is the corresponding science of their preparation and properties. Most organosilicon compounds are similar to the ordinary organic co ...

halides react similarly to give the expected derivatives: :Na₂Se + 2 Me₃XCl → (Me₃X)₂Se + 2 NaCl (X ∈ Si, Ge, Sn)

References

Sodium compounds Selenides Fluorite crystal structure {{inorganic-compound-stub