Readily available 1,2,3,4-tetrachloro-5,5-dimethoxy-cyclopenta-1,3-diene (2) is an excellent cyclic diene for Diels-Alder reaction with a vast variety of dienophiles. The products so formed (norbornene derivatives) constitute important building blocks for the synthesis of diverse complex natural as well as non-natural products. Apart from very high endo selectivity associated with Diels-Alder reactions, there are several other fascinating features associated with these bicyclic products which make them convenient entities in the synthesis of complex molecules. The most important is the rigid framework that act as a powerful template to provide high degree of selectivity and directional nature to various substituents. The proposed article is intended to focus on Diels-Alder reactions of 2 and the applications of norbornene derivatives in organic synthesis.