Treatment of 2,6-dimethoxy-4-methylphenol (I) with 2-bromobutyryl bromide (II) and Et3N in dichloromethane provides 2,6-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl ester (III), which is converted into the target product by reaction with bis(2-methoxyethyl)amine (IV) and Et3N in refluxing toluene. The target (R)-enantiomer is isolated by resolution of the racemic amino ester by either enantiospecific enzyme hydrolysis of the corresponding (S)-isomer or by means of chiral HPLC.