Weaker Lewis acid,better catalytic activity: dual mechanisms in perfluoroarylborane-catalyzed allylstannation reactions

[reaction: see text] PhB(C(6)F(5))(2) exhibits much higher activity as a Lewis acid catalyst for the allylstannation of aromatic aldehydes than the stronger Lewis acid B(C(6)F(5))(3). This anomalous enhancement of catalytic activity for the weaker LA is shown to be partly due to decreased thermodynamic stability of ion pair 2b relative to 2a in the product-forming step of the reaction. A mechanistic path where the borane serves as the true LA catalyst is more important for the weakly Lewis acidic borane.