Cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate catalyzes the three-component, imino Diels-Alder (Povarov) reaction between anilines, aromatic aldehydes, and acyclic vinyl ethers, giving cis-4-alkoxy-2aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with almost complete diastereoselectivity. The corresponding reaction starting from cyclic vinyl ethers gave the two possible diastereomers, with the endo-compound as the major product. This stereochemical outcome is explained through a stepwise mechanism for the imino Diels-Alder reaction, and this mechanism was subsequently proved by trapping the putative oxonium intermediate in the presence of ethanol.