The Koenigs–Knorr reaction in organic chemistry is the substitution reaction of a glycosyl halide with an alcohol to give a glycoside. It is one of the oldest glycosylation reactions. It is named after Wilhelm Koenigs (1851–1906), a student of von Baeyer and fellow student with Hermann Emil Fischer, and Edward Knorr, a student of Koenigs.
In its original form, Koenigs and Knorr treated acetobromoglucose with alcohols in the presence of silver carbonate. Shortly afterwards Fischer and Armstrong reported very similar findings.
In the above example, the stereochemical outcome is determined by the presence of the neighboring group at C2 that lends anchimeric assistance, resulting in the formation of a 1,2-trans stereochemical arrangement. Esters (e.g. acetyl, benzoyl, pivalyl) generally provide good anchimeric assistance, whereas ethers (e.g. benzyl, methyl etc.) do not, leading to mixtures of stereoisomers.