The present work reports liquid–liquid equilibrium data for systems containing water + 5-hydroxymethylfurfural + {1-butanol, 2-butanol or 2-pentanol} at T = 298.2 K and atmospheric pressure (∼0.1 MPa), determined by refractometry and density measurements. The results were evaluated by calculation of the overall mass balance, resulting in overall relative deviations lower than 1.05%. Experimental data were correlated with the NRTL model to calculate the activity coefficient. The average root mean square deviation was equal to 0.65% for all systems. Cloud points, tie lines, partition coefficients and selectivities indicated that 2-pentanol is better than the other studied solvents for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural recovery from water Ver menos