Pyrolyses of a series of selenides and diselenides were studied. Selenides and diselenides bound with an active methylene group like benzyl gave a variety of substituted bibenzyls and related ethane derivatives in high yields. Other diselenides were easily caused to cleave to give various aromatic and aliphatic olefins in good yields together with elemental selenium. Lepidopterene, [2.2]paracyclophane, and benzocyclobutene were prepared by thermal cleavage of their corresponding phenylselenomethyl-substituted compounds as an application of the pyrolysis concerned.

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When the title compounds were heated in an evacuated reaction vessel, both transsulfonation and rearrangement occurred. At lower temperatures (80–120 °C) the corresponding phenylamidosulfates and sulfophenylamidosulfates (transsulfonation products) were the main products. Increasing temperature led to the formation of ring mono- and disulfonates (rearrangement products) at the expense of the transsulfonation products. The sulfonate group always migrated to the ortho and/or para position(s) to the amino group. In no case was any meta-product detected. There was no significant difference in the ease of transsulfonation among the anilinium salts studied except 2,6-dimethyl- and 2,4,6-trimethylanilinium salts. On the other hand, the ease of rearrangement and the orientation of ring sulfonation depended strongly on the structure of the substrate anilines. The thermal reactions of 2,4,6-trimethylanilinium butylamidosulfate produced (2,4,6-trimethylphenylimido)bis(sulfate) in addition to (2,4,6-trimethylphenylamido)sulfate. This is the first isolation of an arylimidobis(sulfate) from such reactions. Mechanisms of the transsulfonation and the rearrangement have been discussed.

The title selenoxide provides a new oxidizing system in combination with catalytic selenium dioxide for oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzaldehydes. An effective redox cycle between selenium and the dioxide is suggested.

Dihydrogenphosphates of primary and secondary aliphatic alcohols as well as phenol were prepared by a very simple procedure with pyrophosphoric acid. t-Butyl and benzyl dihydrogenphosphates could be obtained by a slight modification of the reaction conditions. For the purpose of phosphorylation pyrophosphoric acid was more reactive than orthophosphoric acid.