Selenocarbamates are effective superoxide anion scavengers in vitro.

Abstract We investigated the superoxide anion-scavenging effects of six selenocarbamates and four thiocarbamates, using a highly sensitive quantitative chemiluminescence method. At 333 nM, six selenocarbamates and four thiocarbamates scavenged in the range of 2.9–68.7% of O 2 − . Se -methyl N -phenylselenocarbamate and Se- methyl N -(4-methylphenyl)selenocarbamate exhibited the strongest superoxide anion-scavenging activity among the Se -selenocarbamates. In contrast, the corresponding S -thiocarbamates had moderate inhibitory effect. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC 50 ) of Se -methyl- N -phenylselenocarbamate and Se -methyl- N -(4-methylphenyl)selenocarbamate were determined to be 140 nM and 162 nM, respectively. Thus, these compounds acted in vitro as effective and potentially useful O 2 − scavengers.