As a key component in tea tree oil (TTO), terpinen-4-ol exhibits ideal physiol. activities.However, the high content of terpenes in crude TTO makes it challenging to enrich terpineol-4-ol.In this study, mol. simulations combined with exptl. methods were used to select the optimal hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC), which forms a deep eutectic solvent (DES) with terpinen-4-ol in situ.Combined with necessary post-treatment process, it provided a feasible way for purification of TTO.Related DESs were prepared and characterized, and their main properties were also investigated.When the amount of TBAC was three times that of terpinen-4-ol, the formation of hydrogen bonds became more pronounced.At this point, the DES achieved its highest distribution coefficient for terpinen-4-ol (Dt = 15.02), as well as superior selectivity for terpinen-4-ol (St/c = 24.59, St/γ = 57.69).Water as the back-extractant and n-hexane as the auxiliary extractant facilitated the deep purification of terpinen-4-ol.Response surface anal. and exptl. results confirmed that the optimal enrichment conditions were 30 min of enrichment time, an enrichment temperature of 60°C, and 0.5 g/g of n-hexane dosage.The back-enrichment and recovery of TBAC also proved to be satisfactory, and when applied to real tea oil, the developed method achieved over 90 % enrichment efficiency for terpinen-4-ol.