Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai win 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
publishers 44articles 47first reported 7 Oct, 09:21 UTCdeveloping since 7 Oct · 9 editionstop 25 #9
French chemist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discoveries that helped explain and control how reactions produce one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday that the researchers were honoured “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.” Their work enabled chemists to drive reactions toward homochirality, the tendency of living systems to use predominantly one molecular orientation.
Many molecules occur in two forms that contain the same atoms and bonds but are arranged as mirror images, comparable to left and right hands. The different forms can have different effects in the body, making selective production important in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously,” Nobel Committee for Chemistry chair Heiner Linke said. “The chemical reactions they have developed are spectacular.”
Kagan is affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, while Soai is affiliated with the Tokyo University of Science. Speaking by telephone at the Nobel news conference, Soai said it was “the most exciting day” of his life and that he was glad to share the award with Kagan.
The laureates will share the prize of 12 million Swedish kronor and are scheduled to receive it in Stockholm on December 10.
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