AbstractThe enantioselective effects of the chiral pesticide metalaxyl on soil enzyme activity were investigated. Incubation experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of metalaxyl enantiomers at different concentrations on the activities of urease, invertase, and catalase as well as the type of activity change (activation vs. inhibition) at different times during incubation. The results indicated that the effects of metalaxyl on the activity of soil enzymes were not only related to the concentration of the enantiomers and soil incubation time, but also to the chiral configuration, suggesting the effects were enantioselective. A pattern of inhibition‐recovery‐slight stimulation was observed in urease activity of the soil samples treated with metalaxyl enantiomers, but the effects of (–) ‐R‐metalaxyl were stronger than those of (+)‐S‐metalaxyl at the same concentration. Invertase activity in soil samples treated with metalaxyl enantiomers initially sharply decreased before finally returning to the normal level, and the effects of (+)‐S‐metalaxyl were stronger than those of (–) ‐R‐metalaxyl at the same concentration. Metalaxyl enantiomers influenced catalase activity in a pattern of slight stimulation‐inhibition‐recovery, and the effects of (–) ‐R‐metalaxyl were stronger than those of (+)‐S‐metalaxyl at the same concentration.