During the Gabriel phthalimide synthesis, the first step involves treating phthalimide with ethanoli — Amines Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

$KOH$ acts as a base and abstracts the acidic $N-H$ proton situated between the two electron-withdrawing carbonyl groups, yielding the highly nucleophilic potassium phthalimide salt needed for the subsequent $S_N2$ step.