Synthetic organic selenium compounds, such as ebselen, may show glutathione peroxidaselike antioxidant activity and have a neurotrophic effect. We synthesized 1,3-selenazolidin-4-ones, new types of synthetic organic selenium compounds (five-member ring compounds), to study their possible applications as antioxidants or neurotrophic-like molecules. Their superoxide radical scavenging effects were assessed using the quantitative, highly sensitive method of real-time kinetic chemiluminescence. At 166 M, the O2− scavenging activity of 1,3-selenazolidin-4-ones ranged from 0 to 66.2%. 2-[3-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-4-oxo-1,3-selenazolidin-2-ylidene]malononitrile (compound b) showed the strongest superoxide anion-scavenging activity among the 6 kinds of 2-methylene-1,3-selenazolidin-4-ones examined. Compound b had a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) at 92.4 M and acted as an effective and potentially useful O2− scavenger in vitro. The effect of compound b on rat pheochromocytome cell line PC12 cells was compared with that of ebselen or nerve growth factor (NGF) by use of the MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide] assay. When ebselen was added at 100 M or more, toxicity toward PC12 cells was evident. On the contrary, compound b suppressed serum deprivation-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells more effectively at a concentration of 100 M. The activity of compound b to phosphorylate mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2 (MAP kinase) in PC12 cells was higher than that of ebselen, and the former at 100 M induced the phosphorylation of MAP kinase to a degree similar to that induced by NGF. From these results, we conclude that this superoxide anion-scavenger, compound b, suppressed serum deprivationinduced apoptosis by promoting the phosphorylation of MAP kinase. (MAP kinase) in PC12 cells was higher than that of ebselen, and the former at 100 μM induced the phosphorylation of MAP kinase to a degree similar to that induced by NGF.From these results, we conclude that this superoxide anion-scavenger, compound b, suppressed serum deprivation-induced apoptosis by promoting the phosphorylation of MAP kinase.