Highly electronically deactivated benzylic alcohols, including those with a CF group adjacent to the OH-bearing carbon, undergo dehydrative Friedel-Crafts reactions upon exposure to catalytic Brønsted acid in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) solvent. Titration and kinetic experiments support the involvement of higher order solvent/acid clusters in catalysis.

A cocatalytic effect of nitro compounds is described for the B(C6F5)3·H2O catalyzed azidation of tertiary aliphatic alcohols, enabling catalyst turnover for the first time and with a broad range of substrates. Kinetic investigations into this surprising effect reveal that nitro compounds induce a switch from first order concentration dependence in Brønsted acid to second order concentration dependence in Brønsted acid and second order dependence in the nitro compounds. Kinetic, electronic, and spectroscopic evidence suggests that higher order hydrogen-bonded aggregates of nitro compounds and acids are the kinetically competent Brønsted acid catalysts. Specific weak H-bond accepting additives may offer a new general approach to accelerating Brønsted acid catalysis in solution.

A combinatorial screening strategy is described that exploits complex mixtures of precatalysts and ligands to rapidly uncover lead in situ generated catalysts.