Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Results on the chiral separation of ketamine enantiomers by simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography using microcrystalline cellulose triacetate (MCTA) columns are reported. Experimental data obtained with the SMB laboratory unit showed purities above 99.5% in the raffinate stream and above 97.7% in the extract stream. A simulation approach based on true moving bed (TMB) was applied to validate the performance of the SMB in steady state regime, taking into account the non-linear isotherms, non-ideal effects, and the non-homogeneities of the eight columns. The experimental and calculated results are in agreement with the internal profiles calculated by the TMB approach.312030573076Finep [77.97.0503.00]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Finep [77.97.0503.00]CNPq [465707/200-9)]FAPESP [2001/13168-0, 2006/02511-9]