The mechanochemical adsorption of 3,5-dichlorophenol by laponite, saponite, montmorillonite, beidellite, and vermiculite was studied. Mixtures containing dichlorophenol and clay in the ratio 6:10 were manually ground for 1-10 min. The ground mixtures were then analyzed by thermo-IR-spectroscopy. Depending on the surface acidity of the clay two different associations between interlayer cations, water, and dichlorophenol were identified. In these associations dichlorophenol acts either as a proton acceptor or donor (configurations I and II, respectively). In laponite, montmorillonite and saponite the surface acidity of interlayer water is high, in beidellite and vermiculite it is low. Consequently, mainly configuration I was obtained for the first group of minerals and configuration II for the second group.