Using ethanol as the solvent, chemical reactions of ferric chloride and lithium hydroxide were studied under heated conditions. Crystallized beta -LiFe5O8 and alpha -LiFeO2 were produced from the starting materials of different molar ratios. Owing to the incompleteness of reactions that occurred in the organic medium, an equilibrium between the two lithium ferrite phases was discovered. The reason for excess lithium source material for alpha -LiFeO2 was made clear by analyzing the chemical processes to the lithium ferrite.