Book excerpt: Selenium-based methods in synthetic chemistry have developed rapidly over the past years and are now offering highly useful tools for organic synthesis. Filling the gap for a comprehensive handbook and ready reference, this book covers all modern developments within the field, including biochemical aspects. The chemistry chapters are organized according to the different reactivities of various selenium compounds and reagents, with each chapter dealing with a special reaction type. Also includes a table with 77Se NMR shifts to aid in practical problems. From the Contents: * Electrophilic and Nucleophilic Selenium * Selenium Compounds in Radical Reactions * Selenium-Stabilized Carbanions * Selenium Compounds with Valency Higher than Two * Selenocarbonyls * Selenoxide Elimination and [2,3]-Sigmatropic Rearrangement * Selenium Compounds as Ligands and Catalysts * Biological and Biochemical Aspects of Selenium Compounds