If you want to split by a char, but want to ignore that char in case it is escaped, use a lookbehind assertion.
In this example a string will be split by ":" but "\:" will be ignored:
<?php
$string='a:b:c\:d';
$array=preg_split('#(?<!\\\)\:#',$string);
print_r($array);
?>
Results into:
Array
(
[0] => a
[1] => b
[2] => c\:d
)