An example is the synthesis of 1-(2,4, 6-Trihydroxyphenyl)ethanone from phloroglucinol[1]:
A ketimine is isolated as an intermediate reaction product. The attacking electrophile is possibly [2] a species of the type R-C+=NHCl-. The arene must be electron-rich i.e. phenol or aniline type. A related reaction is the Gattermann reaction in which hydrocyanic acid not a nitrile is used.
The reaction is named after Kurt Hoesch [3] and J. Houben [4] who reported about this new reaction type in respectively 1915 and 1926.
