Sisal waste was used as precursor to prepare carbons by chemical activation. The influence of the K2CO3 amount and activation temperature on the materials textural properties were studied through N-2 and CO2 adsorption assays. As the severity of the treatment increases there is a development of supermicropores, and the micropore size distribution changes from mono to bimodal. A carbon with an apparent surface area of 1038 m(2) g(-1) and pore volume of 0.49 cm(3) g(-1) was obtained. TPD results showed the incidence in acidic type groups although the pH(PZC) reveals an almost neutral character of the surface. Adsorption kinetic data of ibuprofen and paracetamol show that the processes obey to a pseudo-second order kinetic equation. Regarding the removal efficiency the prepared samples attained values comparable to a commercial carbon (>65%), revealing that chemical activation of sisal wastes with K2CO3 allows obtaining samples suitable for pharmaceutical compounds removal from liquid phase. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.