also known as liquid-liquid extraction, and partitioning, is a method to separate compounds based on their solution preferences for two different immiscible liquids, usually water and an organic solvent. It is an extraction of a substance from one liquid phase into another liquid phase. Liquid-liquid extraction is a basic technique in chemical laboratories, where it is done in separating funnels, as well as a common process in chemical industry and ore processing. en.wikipedia.org