The invention discloses a synthesis method of DPA. The method comprises the following steps: (1) adding 
methanol, o-nitrotoluene, a catalyst, concentrated 
sulfuric acid, 
distilled water into an 
autoclave, performing heating with stirring to 50 DEG C, evacuating air and then introducing 
hydrogen, controlling a pressure in the 
autoclave to 0.1 MPa, carrying out a reaction for 5 h, then performing suction 
filtration, distilling a filtrate to remove 
methanol, diluting a residual solution by adding water and then adjusting pH to be neutral with 
ammonia water, performing extracting with 
toluene, washing an organic phase with a dilute 
sodium hydroxide solution, and performing reduced pressure 
distillation on the organic phase to obtain 4-methoxy-2-
methylaniline; and (2) adding 4-methoxy-2-
methylaniline, 
phenol naphthalene, 
cyclohexanone, and the catalyst into an 
autoclave, replacing air with 
nitrogen, performing heating to 250 DEG C, controlling a pressure in the autoclave to 1 Mpa, performing cooling to 
room temperature after a reaction is completed, filtering a reaction solution, and performing reduced pressure 
distillation on a filtrate and collecting various fractions, wherein a latter fraction is DPA. The raw materials are cheap and easy to obtain, the operation is simple, the yield is high, the 
energy consumption is low, and the method has practical value and economic value, andis suitable for enterprise production.