The present invention relates to a xylene-based amphiphilic compound, a method for preparing the same, and a method for extracting, solubilizing, stabilizing or crystallizing a membrane protein using the same. By using the xylene-based compound according to the present invention, a membrane protein may be stably stored in an aqueous solution for a long time, and may be applied in functional and structural analyses. The structural and functional analysis of the membrane protein is one of the fields of highest interest in biology and chemistry, and the xylene-based compound according to the present invention can be applied in research on protein structure that is closely related to development of a new drug.