A scientific society supporting chemistry in the United States since 1876
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has recognized Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for discovering nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, solving a century-old mystery about how homochirality emerges. The winners have reshaped how scientists design reactions used to make pharmaceuticals, with the work spanning decades from the 1980s to the early 2000s, and the prize money totaling 12 million kronor.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Kagan and Soai for discoveries in nonlinear effects and autocatalysis that drive selective production of one molecular mirror image. The work advances understanding of homochirality and underpins drug design. Other Nobel prizes this week include medicine and physics.