Adamantanemethanol derivatives represented by general formula (1) wherein R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbon group; R is a hydrocarbon group having, at the binding site to the adjacent carbon atom, a carbon atom bearing at least one hydrogen atom bonded thereto; and R , R and R are each hydrogen, optionally protected hydroxyl or the like, with the provisos that when R is hydrogen or methyl and R is methyl, at least one of the carbon atoms constituting the adamantane skeleton has protected hydroxyl or the like in a state bonded thereto and that when one of R and R is methyl and the other is ethyl, the adamantane ring has at least one more substituent in addition to the HO-C(R )(R )- group represented in the general formula (1).