The utilization of a halogen bond in a number of chemical fields is well-known. Surprisingly, the incorporation of this useful noncovalent interaction in chemical reaction engineering is rare. We disclose here an uncommon use of halogen bonding to induce intermolecular Csp3–H amination while enabling a hydrogen atom transfer relay strategy to access privileged pyrrolidine structures directly from alkanes. Mechanistic studies support the presence of multiple halogen bond interactions at distinct reaction stages.
