Flumethrin is a

pyrethroid A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (''Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium'' and '' C. coccineum''). Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides. I ...

insecticide. It is used externally in veterinary medicine against parasitic insects and ticks on cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and dogs, and the treatment of parasitic mites in honeybee colonies.

Chemistry

Flumethrin is a complex mixture of

stereoisomer In stereochemistry, stereoisomerism, or spatial isomerism, is a form of isomerism in which molecules have the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution), but differ in the three-dimensional orientations of their atoms in ...

s. The molecule contains three

asymmetric carbon An asymmetric carbon atom (chiral carbon) is a carbon atom that is attached to four different types of atoms or groups of atoms. Le Bel-van't Hoff rule states that the number of stereoisomers of an organic compound is 2n, where n represents the num ...

atoms, there is cis-trans isomerism at the cyclopropane ring, and cis-trans isomerism at the carbon-carbon double bond of the alkene. So there are 16 different isomers. Commercial flumethrin typically contains 92% of the trans isomers on the cyclopropane ring and the cis-configuration at the olefinic carbon-carbon double bond and 8% of the isomer with cis geometry on the cyclopropane ring and the cis-configuration at the olefinic carbon-carbon double bond.

Uses

Flumethrin is used in products, such as flea and tick collars, to protect pets against fleas. It is also used in the proprietary product, ″Bayvarol″, ″Polyvar Yellow″ which are veterinary treatments used by beekeepers against the parasitic mite

Varroa destructor ''Varroa destructor'', the ''Varroa'' mite is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees '' Apis cerana'' and ''Apis mellifera''. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis. The ''Varroa'' mite can reproduce o ...

References

(cyano-(3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl) 2,2,3-trimethylcyclopropane-1-carboxylates Veterinary drugs Chloroarenes Fluoroarenes {{antiinfective-drug-stub