Experimental solubility curves and tie-line data for the (water + 2-butanol + organic solvents) systems were obtained at T = 298.2 K and atmospheric pressure. The organic solvents were four heavy alcohols, i.e. 1-hexanol, 1-heptanol, 1-octanol, and 1-decanol. The consistency of the experimental tie-line data was determined through the Othmer-Tobias and Bachman equations. Distribution coefficients and separation factors were calculated to evaluate the extracting capability of the solvents. The experimental data were correlated using the NRTL (alpha = 0.2) and UNIQUAC models, and binary interaction parameters were obtained. The average root mean square deviation values between the experimental and calculated data show the capability of these models, in particular NRTL model, in correlation of the phase behavior of the ternary systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.