Under argon atmosphere, [(3-bromo-2-fluorobenzyl)oxy](tert-butyl)dimethylsilane (2 g) and ethyl piperidine-4-carboxylate (1.6 g) were mixed with toluene (30 ml), and Pd2(dba)3 (150 mg), BINAP (300 mg), and cesium carbonate (3.2 g) were added thereto, followed by stirring at 100° C. for 1 hour. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and EtOAc was added thereto, followed by filtration using Celite as a filtration adjuvant. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure, the residue was then mixed with THF (30 ml), and a 1M TBAF/THF solution (12 ml) was added thereto, followed by stirring at room temperature for 1 hour. To the reaction mixture were added EtOAc and water, and the organic layer was dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated under reduced pressure. The obtained residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (hexane/EtOAc) to obtain ethyl 1-[2-fluoro-3-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl]piperidine-4-carboxylate (1.02 g).
