Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discoveries related to the origin of chirality and its implications for life's chemistry. The Nobel Prize was announced on Wednesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Kagan, 95, is affiliated with France’s Université Paris-Sud, while Soai, 76, is based at the Tokyo University of Science. The prize recognizes their work on non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, addressing longstanding questions about why certain molecules, such as amino acids, exist in only one variant in living organisms. The Nobel Committee highlighted that their discoveries have enabled chemists to drive reactions leading to homochirality, which is defined as the preference for one mirror-image form of a molecule over another. Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, stated that Kagan and Soai have solved a chemical mystery that has persisted for over a century, noting that their developed reactions are significant for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Last year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for their work on new molecular structures that can trap large quantities of gas, contributing to solutions for global challenges like climate change.