Solvents Used in Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Liquid-liquid (or solvent) extraction is a countercurrent separation process for isolating the constituents
of a liquid mixture. In its simplest form, this involves the extraction of a solute from a binary solution
by bringing it into contact with a second immiscible solvent in which the solute is soluble. In practical
terms, however, many solutes may be present in the initial solution and die extracting ‘solvent’ may
be a mixture of solvents designed to be selective for one or more solutes, depending upon their
chemical type.
Solvent extraction is an old, established process and together with distillation constitute the two most
important industrial separation procedures. The first commercially-successful liquid-liquid extraction
operation was developed for the petroleum industry in 1909 when Edeleanu’s process was employed
for the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons from kerosene, using liquid sulfur dioxide as solvent. Since
then many other processes have been developed by the petroleum, chemical, metallurgical, nuclear,
pharmaceutical and food processing industries.
The simplest extraction operation is single-contact batch extraction in which the initial feed solution is
agitated with a suitable solvent, allowed to separate into two phases after which the solvent containing
the extracted solute is decanted. This is analagous to the laboratory procedure employing a separating
funnel. On an industrial scale, the extraction operation more usually involves more than one extraction
stage and is normally carried out on a continuous basis. The equipment may be comprised of either
discrete mixers and settlers or some form of column contactor in which the feed and solvent phases
flow countercurrently by virtue of the density difference between the phases.
Final settling or phase separation is achieved under gravity at one end of the column by allowing an
adequate settling volume for complete phase disengagement.
Any one extraction operation gives rise to two product streams: the extracted feed solution, more
usually termed the raffinate phase, and the solvent containing extracted solute termed the extract phase.
This nomenclature is unique to liquid-liquid extraction processes.
Choice of solvents
No single criterion can be used to assess the suitability of a solvent for a particular application and the
final choice is invariably a compromise between competing requirements. Thus not only should the
solvent be selective for the solute being extracted but it should also possess other desirable features
such as low cost, low solubility in the feed-phase and good recoverability as well as being noncorrosive
and noninflammable. Furthermore, interfacial tension between the two phases should not be so low
that subsequent phase disengagement becomes difficult and the density difference between the phases
should be large enough to maintain countercurrent flow of the phases under the influence of gravity.
Solvents Used in Liquid-Liquid Extraction

While in a Liquid-Solid extraction water is the most common solvent used, in Liquid-
Liquid extraction Diethyl Ether is most commonly used. Since the process for Liquid-
Liquid extraction requires immiscible solvents things like ethanol and acetone should not
be used because they mix with water. Therefore, the listed solvents below are
recommended for Liquid-Liquid extraction:
• Hexane
• Diethyl Ether
• Dichloromethane
• Toluene
All are more commonly chosen for the organic solvent used in this extraction process.
Liquid-Liquid Extraction Uses

There are several processes that require Liquid-Liquid extraction and here are some of
the most common uses below:
• Fermentation
• Pharmaceuticals
• Fragrances
• Food Products
• Agriculture Chemicals
You can refer to our blog about Liquid-Solid extraction to examine that these two types
of extraction methods are used in repetitive industries. So, in a way, they go together at
times in terms of their common uses and processes within these industries.
Solvent extraction or Liquid-Liquid extraction is a process that relies heavily on the use
of proper solvents
Liquid-liquid extraction involves the exchange of certain compounds between two solvents that
are immiscible or only partially miscible. Liquid-liquid extraction is also very commonly used
for washing an organic phase, for example to remove inorganic compounds, or to protonate or
deprotonate bases or acids, respectively, so they become soluble in the aqueous phase. A very
typical extraction flow diagram is shown below, where a reaction mixture is quenched with
water, extracted (several times), washed with brine, dried, filtered and finally evaporated to yield
a crude product or a pure product.
Liquid-liquid extraction (we will refer to it simply as extraction from now on) is typically
conducted with one aqueous phase (either pure water, or an aqueous solution) and one organic
phase. It is important to note that the desired compound (usually an organic molecule) can in
theory be in either phase. It depends on both the nature of the compound, but also the nature of
the aqueous phase. We will first examine some typical scenarios involving extraction, then move
on to discuss technical details to keep in mind.
1. Extraction of neutral compounds. If the desired organic compound is neutral (i.e. is

neither acidic nor basic), the extraction sequence usually involves simply extracting with
an organic solvent several times.
2. Extraction of acidic compounds. If the desired compound is acidic, we can selectively
deprotonate that compound by using an aqueous base. This will pull the deprotonated
compound into the aqueous phase. Because very few organic compounds are soluble in
water, we can discard the organic phase which now contains any byprod- ucts and/or
unreacted starting materials. Acidification of the aqueous phase can precipitate the
desired product.
3. Extraction of basic compounds. If the product is basic, we can perform a sequence very
similar to the acidic compound above. We can protonate the basic compound by using an
aqueous acid, pulling the protonated compound into the aqueous phase and discarding the
organic phase. Neutralizing the acidic phase will deprotonate the basic compound,
which may precipitate, or may require a second extraction with an organic solvent.
The typical apparatus used in an extraction, is the separatory funnel
One common problem with extractions is one that does not arise from improper technique, but from the
annoying behavior of certain compounds: they form emulsions. These usually appear between the two layers,
and are chemically composed of the two solvents, and other compounds found in the original solution. The
emulsion can resolve itself over a few minutes, or be very persistent. In the latter case, it can sometimes be a
good strategy to drain the emulsion out in the phase that does not contain the product, and then re-extract it
several times

Solvents Used in Liquid-Liquid Extraction

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Liquid-liquid (or solvent) extraction is a countercurrent separation process for isolating the constituents

Solvents Used in Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Liquid-Liquid Extraction Uses

1. Extraction of neutral compounds. If the desired organic compound is neutral (i.e. is

The typical apparatus used in an extraction, is the separatory funnel

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