AbstractThe distribution of binary mixtures of phenol witho‐, m‐orp‐cresol between aqueous solutions of NaOH and toluene or methyl‐isobutyl‐ketone (MIBK) was investigated. A mathematical model of the distribution was formulated and its parameters were evaluated for each phenol/cresol/solvent combination. The extraction of phenolics from a coal tar fraction with aqueous solutions of sodium phenates was carried out in a countercurrent cascade of four equilibrium stages. The back extraction of phenolics from the aqueous extract was carried out as a triple extraction with pure solvent. A mathematical simulation of the multicomponent, multistage experiments was realized with the DOOM algorithm using an extension of the equilibrium model, formulated for binary