Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai win the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The official citation: “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”
The key is molecular handedness. Molecules can come in mirror-image forms, but living systems respond differently to each.
Their discoveries help chemists favour one form over the other. That matters for medicines and other chemicals used in living systems. The work also offers clues to how life’s chemistry acquired its handedness.
The Nobel Prize’s explanation.
Image: Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach.
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