Cephalosporin C was extracted from diluted or whole broth by PEG/salt aqueous two-phase systems. Parameters such as PEG molecular weight, salt type, pH, and salt concentration were investigated for finding a suitable extraction system. In PEG 600/ammoninum sulfate or phosphate systems, K, (partition coefficient of cephalosporin C) was observed to be larger than 1, with Kd (partition coefficient of desacetyl cephalosporin C) being smaller than 1. The particular values of these coefficients would imply that the difficult separation of cephalosporin C and desacetyl cephalosporin C could possibly be achieved via the aqueous two-phase extraction. The addition of surfactants, water-miscible solvents, and neutral salts for enhancement of the separation efficiency was also investigated. The addition of surfactants to the system did not affect the separation efficiency substantially. K, would increase whereas Kd decreased as a result of the addition of acetone, MeOH, EtOH, IPA, and n-BuOH. Meanwhile both K, and Kd would decrease whehever neutral salts, NaCI, KCI, KI, or KSCN, were added. The partitioning behavior of cephalosporin C and desacetyl cephalosporin C in filtered, whole, and different batches of broth was notably quite similar to that of diluted broth. The recovery yield of cephalosporin C in whole broth extraction was observed to be a function of centrifugal force used in phase separation. 0 1 9 9 4 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.