Mono-6-tosyl-β-cyclodextrin (TsO-CD) is considered an important cyclodextrin (CD) intermediate for easy introduction of various functional groups such as halides, azide, amine and imidazole groups to afford functionalized CD derivatives. This protocol describes the use 1-(p-tosyl)-imidazole as the precursor to react with β-cyclodextrin, affording highly pure mono-substituted product with an acceptable yield.