Cyclopropenium ion catalysed Beckmann rearrangement

1-Chloro-2,3-diphenylcyclopropenium ion was found to be a very efficient organocatalyst (3 mol% loading) for liquid phase Beckmann rearrangement of various ketoximes to the corresponding amides/lactams within 2 h in acetonitrile at reflux temperature. This is the first example of the application of the cyclopropenium ion as a catalyst, which opens up a new aspect of the synthetic utility of aromatic cation based catalysis.