2-Hydroxy-3-tert-butyl-5-methylbenzyl alcohol has been synthesized using 2-tert-butyl-para-cresol and paraformaldehyde as raw materials with ethylene glycol dimethyl ether and xylene as mixed solvent. The optimum synthesis conditions of 2-hydroxy-3-tert-butyl-5-methylbenzyl alcohol were obtained: the reaction temperature was 150℃, the reaction time was 20h, The molar ratio of 2-tert-butyl-para-cresol to paraformaldehyde was 1:20 and the ratio of 2-tert-butyl-para-cresol to ethylene glycol dimethyl ether was 1:1.5. The synthetic product was characterized by melting point test, FTIR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, HRMS and X-ray diffraction analysis. The purity the synthesized product was analyzed by HPLC. The thermal stability was also investigated by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The antioxidant properties of the synthesized 2-hydroxy-3-tert-butyl-5-methylbenzyl alcohol were tested. The results showed that the product had good scavenging ability to superoxide O3-· anion, ·OH and DPPH· radical.