The invention discloses a synthesis method of 4-ethoxy-1, 1, 1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one, which comprises the following steps: adding absolute ethyl alcohol, mercury acetate and n-butyl vinyl ether into a reaction flask which is provided with a fractionating column (connected with a condenser and cooled by an ice salt bath for the flask), heating and refluxing, controlling the temperature of the top of the fractionating column to 36-37 DEG C, evaporating out ethyl vinyl ether, and cooling to obtain the 4-ethoxy-1, 1, 1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one, namely the 4-ethoxy-1, 1, 1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-one. The preparation method comprises the following steps: mixing ethyl vinyl ether and trifluoroacetic anhydride, adding a deacidification agent, and reacting at 50-110 DEG C for 2-4 hours to obtain the 4-ethoxy-1, 1, 1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-ketone. According to the method, trifluoroacetic anhydride is adopted to replace trifluoroacetyl chloride to serve as a reaction raw material, trifluoroacetic anhydride is easy to prepare and convenient to obtain, and large-batch production of 4-ethoxy-1, 1, 1-trifluoro-3-butene-2-ketone is facilitated.