A series of (1-adamantyl)aminopyrimidine and -pyridine derivatives was prepared by adamantyl cation attack on amino heterocycles. The adamantylated compounds. particularly 2-(1-adamantyl)amino-6-methylpyridine, were found to be potent TNF-alpha inducers in murine melanoma cells transduced with gene for human TNF-alpha. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.