Recent advances in Lewis acid catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous media

Recently the aqueous medium has attracted the interest of organic chemists, and many, sometimes surprising, discoveries have been made. Among the orga nic reactions investigated in aqueous medium, the Diels-Alder cycloaddition has been the most widely studied because of its great importance in the sy nthetic and theoretical fields. The Diels-Alder reaction is greatly enhance d by Lewis acid catalysis, and this review illustrates recent significant r esults in this field when the reaction is performed in aqueous medium.