Halogen-Bond-Catalyzed Addition of Carbon-Based Nucleophiles to N-Acylimminium Ions.

N-acylimminium ions are an important class of synthetic intermediates to produce diverse products upon treatment with different nucleophiles. Most of the reported catalytic protocol involved moisture-sensitive Lewis acids or transition metal. Herein, we reported an organocatalytic version by using halogen-bond catalyst as mild Lewis acid through anion-abstraction strategy. A preliminary result of enantioselective version by employing a chiral BINOL-phosphate anion has also been demonstrated.