A comparative study of specific acid catalysis and Lewis acid catalysis of Diels–Alder reactions between dienophiles (1, 4 and 6) and cyclopentadiene (2) in water and mixed aqueous media is reported. The reactions were performed in water with copper(II) nitrate as the Lewis acid catalyst whereas hydrochloric acid was employed for specific acid catalysis. At equimolar amounts of copper(II) nitrate and hydrochloric acid (0.01 M, for example) and under the same reaction conditions, the reaction rate for 1a with 2 is about 40 times faster with copper catalysis than with specific acid catalysis. Moreover, at 32 °Cand 0.01 M HCl, the reaction of 1b with 2 is about 21 times faster than the same uncatalyzed reaction in pure water under the same reaction conditions. The inverse solvent kinetic isotope effect shows that these Diels–Alder reactions undergo specific acid catalysis.