Succinic acid is an important material in industries producing biodegradable polymers, food and pharmaceutical products, and green solvents. Furthermore, succinate fermentation is a novel process due to the fixation of $CO_2$ into succinate during fermentation. However, the impurities in fermentation broth make the separation process of succinic acid be difficult. Reactive extraction has been proposed to be an effective primary separation step of succinic acid from dilute fermentation broth. This article presents the principles of reactive extraction along with the characteristics of tertiary amino extractants. A brief overview on the current research on reactive extraction of succinic acid is presented. Finally, for the succinic acid separation, reactive extraction as a primary step is suggested in the whole downstream process for succinic acid from fermentation broth.