Sodium selenide is a inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 of sodium

Sodium

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...

 and selenium

Selenium

Selenium is a chemical element with atomic number 34, chemical symbol Se, and an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, whose properties are intermediate between those of adjacent chalcogen elements sulfur and tellurium...

 with the chemical formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 Na₂Se. This colourless solid is prepared by the reaction of selenium with a solution of sodium in ammonia.

Like other alkali metal chalcogenide

Chalcogenide

A chalcogenide is a chemical compound consisting of at least one chalcogen ion and at least one more electropositive element. Although all group 16 elements of the periodic table are defined as chalcogens, the term is more commonly reserved for sulfides, selenides, and tellurides, rather than...

s, this material is highly sensitive to water, easily undergoing hydrolysis to give mixtures of the biselenide and hydroxide. This hydrolysis occurs because of the extreme basicity of the Se^2- ion.

Na₂Se + H₂O → NaHSe + NaOH

Similarly, sodium selenide is readily oxidized to polyselenides, a conversion signaled by off-white samples.

Sodium selenide reacts with acid

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

s to produce toxic hydrogen selenide

Hydrogen selenide

Hydrogen selenide is the inorganic compound with the formula H2Se. It is the simplest and virtually the only hydride of selenium. H2Se is a colorless, flammable gas under standard conditions. It is the most toxic selenium compound with an exposure limit: 0.05 ppm over an 8 hour period...

 gas.

Na₂Se + 2 HCl → H₂Se + 2 NaCl

The compound reacts with electrophiles to produce the selenium compounds. With alkyl halides, one obtains a variety of organoselenium compounds:

Na₂Se + 2 RBr → R₂Se + 2 NaBr

Organotin

Organotin

Organotin compounds or stannanes are chemical compounds based on tin with hydrocarbon substituents. Organotin chemistry is part of the wider field of organometallic chemistry. The first organotin compound was diethyltin diiodide, discovered by Edward Frankland in 1849...

 and organosilicon

Organosilicon

Organosilicon compounds are organic compounds containing carbon silicon bonds. Organosilicon chemistry is the corresponding science exploring their properties and reactivity.Like carbon, the organically bound silicon is tetravalent and tetrahedral...

halides react similarly to give the expected derivatives:

Na₂Se + 2 Me₃ECl → (Me₃E)₂Se + 2 NaCl (E = Si, Ge, Sn)