**Abstract**

Sorption of phenolic compounds is a very complex process and many factors influence it. At the beginning, detailed chemical structure of phenols is presented with its consequence for physical properties, for example, values of melting and boiling points, solubility in water, pKa and Log P. Also influence of activating and deactivating substituents on the properties is explained. On this basis, interaction with the most frequently used sorbents, for example, chemically modified silicas, polymers and porous carbons, is described. Both sorbents characteristics including physical (porosity) and chemical properties (functional groups) and experimental conditions such as concentration of solutes, contact time, temperature, solvent effects and presence or absence of oxygen are taken into account. The explanations of irreversible adsorption and oxidative coupling phenomena are included. The mechanisms of phenolic compounds sorption are described.

**Keywords:** phenol's properties, phenol's sorption, phenol's interactions, structure, adsorbents
