More so than thiophenol, benzeneselenol is easily oxidized by air. The facility of this reaction reflects the weakness of the Se-H bond, bond dissociation energy of which is estimated to be between 67 and 74 kcal/mol. In contrast, the S-H BDE for thiophenol is near 80 kcal/mol. The product is diphenyl diselenide as shown in this idealized equation:
The presence of the diselenide in benzeneselenol is indicated by a yellow coloration. The diselenide can be converted back to the selenol by reduction followed by acidification of the resulting .
PhSeH is acidic with a pK of 5.9. Thus at neutral pH, it is mostly ionized:
It is approximately seven times more acidic than the related thiophenol. Both compounds dissolve in water upon the addition of base. The conjugate base is , a potent nucleophile.