For most pesticides, the chemically intact active ingredient of the marketed formulation is responsible for the biological activity at the molecular level. In some cases, however, the actual substance responsible for the desired effect is a chemically transformed product of the pesticide that was applied in the field. Such transformations are activation processes usually involving enzymes characteristic to the target organism, but the conversion can occur in the environment and by nonenzymatic processes. The expected biological activity is typically observable only in studies with whole organisms or in the field. The increase in selective toxicity for the target and nontarget organisms results from differential uptake, translocation, and metabolism of such pesticide precursors or propesticides. Selectivity, thus, increased safety, of neurotoxic insecticides can be achieved by incorporation of specific sulfur functionalities into the parent compound. Differential phytotoxicity of several classes of herbicides is based on selective oxidative and hydrolytic degradations in various plants. Hydrolysis and reduction are involved in the bioactivation of several profungicides. Bioactivation processes are also important for some organic and inorganic rodenticides. Although in many cases the propesticide nature of a compound was discovered during structure optimization and metabolism studies, there are several examples where incorporation of metabolically labile moieties into an insufficiently selective lead compound was crucial for commercial development.