Thirty-seven (most of them novel) chiral derivatives of (1S,4S)-2,5-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (2-36, 38, 39) were prepared from (S)-trans-4-hydroxyproline. A selection of these chiral ligands were examined as potential ligands in the preparation of catalysts for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes and as chiral Lewis acid activators in the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction. In the former system, diamine 30 induced up to 92 % enantiomeric excess in the formation of (S)-phenyl ethyl carbinol, whereas in the case of the cycloaddition reaction between cyclopentadiene and 3-acryloyloxazolidin-2-one the catalytic complex formed