Treatment of a variety of N-acyliminium ion precursors with 2, 3-butadienyl (trimethyl) silane and related allenes in the presence of BF3⊙ OEt2 provides good yields of N-protected 2- (aminomethyl)-substituted 1, 3-dienes, which prove to be useful substrates for subsequent Diels-Alder and alkene metathesis reactions.