The N-hydroxyphthalimides with ionic-pair substituents were studied to design possibly recoverable and highly reactive hydroxyimide organocatalysts. The reactivities of catalysts could be enhanced by increasing the charge (Q(O)) and spin density (SDO) or decreasing the SDN and isotropic Fermi contact couplings (IFCCN) in their (sic)N-O-center dot parts, or reducing the anionic charge (Q(Anion)); their correlations follow Q(o) approximate to IFCCN > SDN > SDO > Q(Anion). The reactivities of catalysts with ionic-pair substituents could be largely improved compared with those of conventional counterparts; most of them could be comparable to or higher than those of known efficient organocatalysts. A linear correlation between the Hammett constants of ionic-pair substituents and the reactivities of catalysts was established. Changing the anion, rather than changing the cation, should be a more powerful way to increase the reactivity, and the multiple ionic-pair substituent effects would be superior to single ones. The appropriate. (sic)NO-H bond strengths of these catalysts are responsible for their good catalytic performances. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.