3-Hydroxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone has a pleasant mild, warm, creamy and sweet aroma, which is widely used in various flavor formulations. Two different methods of preparing 3-hydroxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone were studied starting from (E)-1-phenyl-1-buten-3-one and 4-phenyl-2-butanone respectively. (E)-1-Phenyl-1-buten-3-one was converted to 3-hydroxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone through epoxidation and reduction. The first step reaction used H2O2 as oxidant to give 1-phenyl-1,2-epoxy-3-butanone in 64% yield; 1-phenyl-1,2-epoxy-3-butanone was reduced by HCOOH at the presence of Pd/C to produce 3-hydroxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone in 67% yield. The overall yield was 43%. 4-Phenyl-2-butanone was converted to 3-hydroxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone through the oxidation of the intermediate silyl enol ether. 4-Phenyl-2-butanone reacted with trimethylsilyl iodide at the presence of hexamethyldisilazane to give 4-phenyl-2-buten-2-yl trimethylsilyl ether in 75% yield. The obtained silyl enol ether was oxidized with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid to give 3-hydoxy-4-phenyl-2-butanone in 71% yield. The overall yield was 53%. The synthetic route starting from (E)-1-phenyl-1-buten-3-one is one more practical route due to easy operation and commercially available cheap reagents although with a little lower overall yield.