The invention discloses a synthesis method of (S)-(-)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)
ethylamine and an intermediate compound thereof, and belongs to the technical field of synthesis of medical intermediates. The method comprises the following steps: by taking p-methoxyacetophenone as an initial
raw material, carrying out asymmetric reduction to obtain a chiral
alcohol mixture, condensing the chiral
alcohol mixture with N-p-toluenesulfonyl-L-
proline, and recrystallizing to enrich an intermediate compound (R)-3A; further, the (R)-3A is subjected to
alkaline hydrolysis, azidation and reduction reaction to obtain the (S)-(-)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)
ethylamine. According to the method, preparation of high-optical-purity (S)-(-)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)
ethylamine is achieved through the strategy of chiral introduction-configuration enrichment-functional group conversion, the chiral purity of the product is larger than 99%, a customized high-price catalyst is replaced with a conventional commercial
reagent, a key intermediate can be recycled and reused, operation is easy and convenient, cost is controllable, environment friendliness is achieved, and the method is suitable for industrial production. The method is suitable for industrial large-scale production.