The invention relates to a preparation method of biaryl substituted 4-amino-butyric acid or a derivative of biaryl substituted 4-amino-butyric acid. The preparation method comprises the step as follows: a compound (II) is subjected to a reaction with hydrogen under the condition of presence of a transition metal catalyst and a chiral ligand, and a compound (I) is generated, wherein the transition metal catalyst is a rhodium catalyst, the chiral ligand is a chiral phosphorous ligand with a conformational stiffening ring structure, phosphorus can be in bond linkage with the ring structure or taken as one part of the ring structure, and biaryl substituted 4-amino-butyric acid or the derivative of biaryl substituted 4-amino-butyric acid is prepared from the compound (I) through further processing.