Biaryl compounds have attracted considerable 
synthetic interest due to their presence in natural products and broad use in transition metal and organocatalysis.  Our laboratory has developed a rapid and atom economical approach to the synthesis of a wide range of highly customizable biaryl templates.  Utilizing the Diels-Alder reaction, tetra-ortho-substituted biaryls can be been synthesized in only 3-4 steps from commercially available materials.  Further functionalization and application as well as the synthesis of axially chiral biaryls will be discussed.