Why don't we use an alkyl halide directly in Gabriel Phthalimide Synthesis? In Gabriel Phthalimide Synthesis, why do we use $\ce{KOH}$ in first step rather than directly adding an alkyl halide?
It is used to make the conjugate base of the imide which is far more nucleophilic than the imide itself, but not too much to attack another molecule of the alkyl halide.