A novel betaine type asphalt emulsifier 3-(N,N,N-dimethyl acetoxy ammonium chloride)-2-hydroxypropyl laurate was synthesized after three steps by the reaction of lauric acid, epichlorohydrin, dimethylamine and sodium chloroacetate. The optimum reaction conditions were obtained for the synthesis of the first step of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl laurate. The esterification yield reaches 97.1% at the optimum conditions of reaction temperature 80ºC, reaction time 6 h, feedstock mole ratio of epichlorohydrin to lauric acid 1.5, mass ratio of catalyst to lauric acid 2%. The chemical structure of the product was characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR. The first synthesis step of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl laurate was monitored by online FTIR technique. The by-product was detected by the online FTIR analysis. Based upon the experimental data, a plausible reaction mechanism was proposed for the reaction. The CMC of the objective product has a lower value of 7.4×10-4 mol/L. The surface tension at CMC is 30.85 mN/m. The emulsifier is a rapid-set asphalt emulsifier.