Previous investigations demonstrated that the incubation of the chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide methoxychlor [1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)ethane] with rat liver microsomes generates phenolic estrogenic metabolites. The current study shows that the incubation of liver microsomes from untreated and phenobarbital-treated rats and human donors, in the presence of NADPH, yields three phenolic metabolites. Identification of the metabolites was achieved by TLC, HPLC, GC/MS, and LC/MS and by hydrodynamic voltammetric analysis. These metabolites were identified as the mon- and didemethylated phenolic derivatives (mono-OH-M and bis-OH-M, respectively) and as a novel trihydroxy derivative (tris-OH-M). The tris-OH-M was demonstrated to be a catechol [1,1,1-trichloro-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethane]. Furthermore, the tris-OH-M becomes radiolabeled by [methyl-3H3]-S- adenosylmethionine (SAM) in a reaction catalyzed by catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT), indicating that tris-OH-M behaves like a catechol. Incubation of the monohydroxy metabolite with liver microsomes from phenobarbital-treated rats (PB microsomes) yields the dihydroxy and the trihydroxy metabolites. Furthermore, the time course of methoxychlor metabolism by PB microsomes demonstrated a rapid appearance and disappearance of the monohydroxy metabolite with the subsequent formation of the dihydroxy and trihydroxy metabolites. On the basis of these findings, it is proposed that the metabolic route of methoxychlor by mono-oxygenases involves sequential demethylations to the dihydroxy derivative and a subsequent ring hydroxylation.