Rare earth metal triflates, when used with ionic liquids can promote Diels-Alder reactions carried out with different dienes and dienophiles suggesting an enhancement in the catalytic power of the triflates in ionic liquids. It is possible to recover and reuse the ionic liquid phase with triflates to give comparable yields and stereoselectivities even after six cycles. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.