Effect of solvent nature on extraction of phenols

Available data on the extraction of phenols with various extractants are analyzed in terms of intermolecular interactions in the solutions using London-Debye-Keesom pairwise interaction potentials. The analysis shows that there are correlations between the phenol distribution coefficients and the parameters that characterize the properties of the extractant molecules (ionization potential, polarizability, and dipole moment) and the structure of the solution. A method to evaluate the contribution of universal and specific interactions to the extraction process is proposed.