Liquid-liquid extraction of Cibacron Red FN-R from synthetic dye solution was carried out using Tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) as an extractant. The various diluents used were benzene, hexane, toluene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and dichloromethane. Among them dichloromethane was found to be the most effective diluent for extraction of Cibacron Red FN-R dye. The effect of parameters such as aqueous pH, extractant concentration, dye concentration, equilibration time, aqueous to organic phase ratio, nature of stripping reagent, stripping reagent concentration, stripping phase ratio and stripping contact time was examined. Under optimized conditions, the percentage of Cibacron Red FN-R was extracted to 99.2%. The extracted dye in the organic phase can be back extracted into aqueous nitric acid solution. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.