Separation of pyrethroid enantiomers by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography

The separation of enantiomers of pyrethroid insecticides has been systematically studied using a commercially available Pirkle type 1-A chiral-phase high-performance liquid chromatography column. Useful resolution was obtained for compounds with a variety of acid and alcohol moieties, and containing one to four chiral centres. The chromatographic behaviour of the diastereomers of some of these insecticides on a cyano-bonded column was also examined.