Scandium trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate), which is commercially available, is a practical and useful Lewis acid catalyst for acylation of alcohols with acid anhydrides or the esterification of alcohols by carboxylic acids in the presence of p-nitrobenzoic anhydrides. The remarkably high catalytic activity of scandium triflate can be used for assisting the acylation by acid anhydrides of not only primary alcohols but also sterically-hindered secondary or tertiary alcohols. The method presented is especially effective for selective macrolactonization of omega-hydroxy carboxylic acids.