The distributions of nicotinic acid (NA) between water and trialkylamine (N235) dissolved in n-octanol was studied. The complexes of N235 and NA were investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry to deduce the reaction mechanism. It was found that N235/n-octanol was an efficient extractant for extracting nicotinic acid. The favorable operation conditions were equilibrium aqueous pH 4.2 to 5.5 and initial N235 concentration<0.42 mol.L-1. The reaction processes included the reaction between neutral N235 and neutral NA and the reaction between protonated N235 and anionic NA. Based on the mass action law and some assumptions, an expression for distribution coefficient D was proposed. The apparent extraction equilibrium constants were calculated by fitting the experimental data and the results were satisfactory.