Enantiomeric separation of pyrethroic acid methyl and ethyl esters was examined on cellulose-based chiral stationary phases (CSPs): chiralcel OD (cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate)) and chiralcel OF (cellulose tris(4-chlorophenyl carbamate)). The good resolution of pyrethroic acid esters was achieved on chiralcel OD and OF. Separation factors ranged from 1.19-5.12 for Chiralcel OD and 1.00-1.59 for chiralcel OF. Hexane/2-propanol (100:0.15, v/v %) was used as the eluent. The resolution capability of CSPs was greater chiralcel OD than chiralcel OF in the case of the pyrethroic acid esters. The flow rate was 0.8 ml/min and detection was set at 230 nm. The results of the chromatographic data and molecular mechanics suggest that steric effect was a major factor in the enantioseparation. Furthermore, the hydrogen bond between analytes and CSP played an important role in the chiral recognition. Chirality 15: 276-283, 2003. © 2003 KEY WORDS: chiral discrimination; pyrethroic acid ester; HPLC; enantioseparation; molecular mechanics; cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl carbamate); chiralcel OD; cellulose tris(4-chlorophenyl carbamate); chiralcel OF The natural insecticidal compound pyrethrin was available in the form of dried flowers of Chrysanthemum roseum as early as the beginning of the 19th century. The active insecticidal component of pyrethrum extract is a mixture of six related compounds, known as pyrethrins, of which the most potent are pyrethrins I and II. Pyrethroids are important in agriculture and household usage because of their high insecticidal activity and very low mammalian toxicity. Pyrethroid insecticides with greater stability were sought to replace the increasing insect resistance to organophosphates.1 Most pyrethroids contain a mixture of isomers, both inactive and active isomers. Many are now being sold as the resolved form of the original product, containing only the active isomers or a higher ratio of active isomers. Therefore, enantiomer separation of pyrethroids and their intermediates is a very important task. As shown in Figure 1, pyrethroic acid esters show that two asymmetric carbon atoms give rise to four isomers, two pairs of which have geometric isomer cis-and trans-configuration with respect to the plane of the cyclopropane ring. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatographic (MECC) methods using types of cyclodextrin and their derivatives in phosphate buffer containing several surfactants as chiral selector have been reported to separate the enantiomers of cypermethrin, alphamethrin, permethrin, and fenpropathrin. 2 (1R,3R)-trans-Chrysanthemic acid and its amide derived chiral stationary phases (CSPs) have been employed for enantiomer separation of trans-chrysanthemic acid 3,5-dinitroanilide.3 Gas chromatographic separation of chrysanthemic acid ester enantiomers has been reported. In that article, a novel amide phase derived from (1R,3R)-trans-chrysanthemic acid with (S)-mandelic acid (R)-1-(␣-naphthyl)-ethyl amide shown good stereoselectivity for chrysanthemic aci...