Chiral Lewis acids derived from 1,8-Naphthalenediylbis(dichloroborane), a novel bidentate Lewis acid, have been found to be active catalysts for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction. Utilizing chiral ligands derived from amino acids, a range of enantioselectivities have been achieved with cyclopentadiene and various alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. Some mechanistic aspects of this novel asymmetric bidentate catalyst have been addressed.