Processes are disclosed for the separation of aromatic hydrocarbons from feedstreams containing mixtures of aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons using extractive distillation with an aromatic selective solvent in order to separate the aromatic hydrocarbons from the non-aromatic hydrocarbons. A rich solvent stream comprising the aromatic hydrocarbons and solvent is withdrawn from the extractive distillation column and passed to a steam stripping column to provide a regenerated lean solvent stream, a side-cut stream comprising the aromatic hydrocarbons and a stripper overhead stream comprising non-aromatic hydrocarbons which are passed as a reflux stream to the extractive distillation column. Various solvents are disclosed and an especially preferred solvent is sulfolane.