Abstract Phenylacetic acid is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for production of antibiotics. The recovery of phenylacetic acid from dilute aqueous waste with tri-n-butyl phosphate in methyl isobutyl ketone and petroleum ether has been attempted, and the results are presented in terms of distribution coefficient, extraction efficiency, apparent equilibrium constant, and loading ratio. The mechanism of reactive extraction was analyzed and the stoichiometric ratio of phenylacetic acid to tri-n-butyl phosphate in methyl isobutyl ketone and petroleum ether was found to be 1:0.5 and 1:1.2. Mass action law was used to represent the reactive extraction equilibrium for phenylacetic acid?tri-n-butyl phosphate?diluents which satisfied much in the present study. FTIR spectroscopy was studied for confirmation of the formation of a complex between acid and extractant. Further relative basicity approach has been extended to represent the experimental results. The model is best suited to experimental results.
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