As an important constituent of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.,glycyrrhetinic acid has been widely used in Chinese traditional medicine.In order to improve its water solubility and bio-avalability and to reduce its side effects,a new derivative of glycyrrhetinic acid,arginine glycyrrhetinate,was synthesized by the reaction of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid with L-arginine.The chemical composition and structure of this new compound were determined by a series of spectral technology,including MS,NMR,UV and IR spectroscopy.This study will be useful to identification of compounds with similar structure and also be helpful to quality control during drug production.