OBJECTIVE： To synthesize 3-hydroxyadamantane-1-carboxylic acid and optimize its synthesis technology. METHODS： Using 1-adamantane carboxylic acid as starting material， triethyl benzyl ammonium chloride （TEBAC） as phase transfer catalyst， 3-hydroxyadamantane-1-carboxylic acid was prepared by potassium permanganate in alkaline condition. Treating yield rate as index， central composite design-response surface method was conducted to optimize the reaction temperature， reaction time and the mole ratio of potassium permanganate-substrate. RESULTS： Optimized synthesis technology was as follows as reaction temperature 60 ℃， reaction time 8.5 h， mole ratio of potassium permanganate-substrate 1.28 ∶ 1. The deviation for yield rate of prediction value and the measured value was 1.38％ （prediction value was 91.26％， the measured average value was 93.61％， n＝6）； the average purity of prepared 3-hydroxyadamantane-1-carboxylic acid was 99.26％ （n＝6）. CONCLUSIONS： 3-hydroxyadamantane-1-carboxylic acid with high purity and yield rate is prepared successfully by optimized synthesis technology.