硒醇與硫醇結構相似,但C-Se[[鍵長]]為196 [[皮米|pm]],C-S的鍵長為182 [[皮米|pm]]約差了8%左右。[[碳|C]]-[[硒|Se]]-[[氫|H]]的鍵角接近90°(91°)。[[硒]]-[[碳]]鍵的[[能量]]弱於[[硫]]-氫鍵,因此硒醇很容易[[氧化]]和作為[[酸|氫原子供体]]。同時也反映了相對微弱的硒鍵,[[硫醇]]比硒醇的[[鍵能]]約強1000倍、且[[pKa]]值[[甲硒醇]]是5.2、[[甲硫醇]]為8.3。氫解離後,得到硒醇[[陰離子]],RSe<sup>-</sup>,其中的大多數例子是高度親核,並迅速被[[空氣]][[氧化]]。<ref name=Wessjohann>Ludger A. Wessjohann, Alex Schneider, Muhammad Abbas and Wolfgang Brandt "Selenium in Chemistry and Biochemistry in Comparison to Sulfur" Biol. Chem., Vol. 388, pp. 997–1006, 2007. {{DOI|10.1515/BC.2007.138}}</ref>
二甲基二硒在细胞内很容易就会被还原成甲硒醇。<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Gabel-Jensen C, Lunøe K, Gammelgaard B|date=2010|title=Formation of methylselenol, dimethylselenide and dimethyldiselenide in in vitro metabolism models determined by headspace GC-MS|journal=[[Metallomics]]|volume=2|issue=2|pages=167–173|doi=10.1039/b914255j|pmid=21069149}}</ref>
^Ludger A. Wessjohann, Alex Schneider, Muhammad Abbas and Wolfgang Brandt "Selenium in Chemistry and Biochemistry in Comparison to Sulfur" Biol. Chem., Vol. 388, pp. 997–1006, 2007. doi:10.1515/BC.2007.138
^Gabel-Jensen C, Lunøe K, Gammelgaard B. Formation of methylselenol, dimethylselenide and dimethyldiselenide in in vitro metabolism models determined by headspace GC-MS. Metallomics. 2010, 2 (2): 167–173. PMID 21069149. doi:10.1039/b914255j.