The purpose of this research project is to demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating a new photocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction into the curriculum of undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories at University of Washington. Although the traditional Diels-Alder reaction is thermally allowed and does not require UV light catalysis, it fails to succeed when both the dienophile and diene are electron rich due to electrostatic repulsion between the reagents. Recently, an alternative photocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction was reported in the chemical literature involving a ruthenium bipyrazine catalyst, Ru(bpz)3X, where X denotes the counter anion. This new photocatalytic method is advantageous because it allows the Diel-Alder reaction to work when both the diene and the dienophile are electron rich. Consequently, we believe that the new photocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction would be an attractive addition to our undergraduate laboratory curriculum by increasing the versatility of Diels Alder reagents to accommodate both electron rich substrates. Because the ruthenium catalyst is not commercially available, it must be synthesized from chloropyrazine. Two equivalents of chloropyrazine were coupled together under heated conditions and a Pd(Ph3)4 catalyst to yield a solution mixture containing bipyrazine, which was purified via silica flash chromatography. Subsequently, bipyrazine was reacted with RuCl3xH2O in ethylene glycol at 170°C to afford a solution mixture containing Ru(bpz)3Cl2. This chloride salt was reacted with NaBArF to precipitate the desired catalyst, Ru(bpz)3X, where X represents the anion BArF-. Finally, the catalyst was purified through alumina flash chromatography. We intend to test the efficacy of this new photocatalytic method using the electron rich substrates trans anethole (dienophile) and isoprene (diene) in the upcoming months. We expect that the two photocatalysts we have synthesized will catalyze the cycloaddition reaction between isoprene and trans anethole with endo stereoselectivity.