Imidazolinium salts as catalysts for the aza-Diels-Alder reaction.

Various easily accessible imidazolinium salts have been found to be capable of catalysing an aza-Diels-Alder reaction with a range of imines and Danishefsky's diene, giving the desired products in good to excellent yields. The influence of the counter-anions on the reactivity has been explored. These salts could contribute to the field of metal-free catalysis/organocatalysis.