The Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and various dienophiles is efficiently catalyzed by cationic zirconocene compounds (e.g. [Cp2Zr(OtBu)-THF][BPh4] (2)). The use of catalytic amounts of optically pure (S)-[ethylenebis(eta5-tetrahydroindenyl)]-zirconium tert-butoxide tetrahydrofuran tetraphenylborate (3) resulted in modest enantioselectivity in this C-C bond-forming process. Compound (S)-3 crystallizes in the hexagonal space group P6(1): a = 11.607(2) angstrom, c = 55.363(9) angstrom, V = 6459(2) angstrom3, Z = 6 with R = 0.0278, R(w) = 0.0273 for 2534 observed reflections with F > 6.0 sigma(F). A model for the facial selectivity observed is presented on the basis of the structure of compound (S)-3.