The invention provides a method for purifying 3-(2-cyclopentyl-2-hydroxy-2-phenylethoxy) quinuclidine and preparing penehyclidine hydrochloride. The method comprises the following steps: (1) mixing 3-quinuclidinol with a dimethyl sulfoxide solution, and reacting with sodium hydride and a 1,1-phenyl amyl oxirane solution; (2) adding purified water and ethyl acetate to carry out extraction, collecting the organic phase, washing, carrying out back extraction with a hydrochloric acid solution, and collecting the water layer; (3) adjusting the pH value of the water layer to 5-7, washing the water layer by ethyl acetate, adjusting the pH value to 9-12 again, extracting the water layer by ethyl acetate, and collecting the organic phase; and (4) filtering, and carrying out reduced pressure concentration to obtain 3-(2-cyclopentyl-2-hydroxy-2-phenylethoxy) quinuclidine oil. According to the method, by separating and purifying 3-(2-cyclopentyl-2-hydroxy-2-phenylethoxy) quinuclidine, the yield and quality of a target product are improved, and a penehyclidine hydrochloride finished product with a high yield and high purity is obtained through one-step salifying crystallization.