Various types of oxetanes and oxolanes can be cleaved by reaction with phenylselenide anion prepared from diphenyl diselenide and lithium aluminum hydride in dioxane.
Phenylselenide anion generated from (PhSe)2 and LiAlH4, was found to be highly reactive to various types of cyclic ethers, providing a new method to prepare γ- and δ-phenylselenenyl alcohols from oxetane and oxolane, respectively.