Synthesis of aminomethylated 4-fluoropiperidines and 3-fluoropyrrolidines.

A short and efficient synthesis of 4-aminomethyl-4-fluoropiperidines and 3-aminomethyl-3-fluoropyrrolidines is described. These fluorinated azaheterocycles are of specific interest as bifunctional building blocks for fluorinated pharmaceutical compounds. The key step of the synthetic pathway involves the regioselective bromofluorination of N-Boc-4-methylenepiperidine and 3-methylenepyrrolidine using Et(3)N.3HF and NBS.