Research in the Gabbaï group has been dedicated to the synthesis and study of Lewis acidic main group compounds with the development of applications in molecular recognition and catalysis as the ultimate goals.  This talk will highlight a series of recent results obtained in pursuit of these objectives.  The first part of the presentation will show how Lewis acidic boron-, antimony- and tellurium-based anion receptors can be deployed in aqueous media to effectively transport a range of anions across the phospholipid membrane of artificial vesicles and live cells.  The second part of the talk will show that the same type of main group Lewis acids can be used to engage both organic substrates and transition metal halides for application in organic and organometallic catalysis.