Henri B. Kagan, Kenso Soai awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry for groundbreaking work on chemical asymmetry

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for their pioneering work on non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.

The two scientists have been recognised for research that helped address a longstanding question in chemistry: how the chemical asymmetry found in living organisms, known as homochirality, can emerge through chemical processes.

Many molecules, including amino acids, occur in two forms that are mirror images of each other. While chemical reactions can produce both forms, living organisms overwhelmingly use only one of them. The origin of this pronounced chemical preference has remained a major question in chemistry.

Kagan made a significant breakthrough in 1986 when he demonstrated a new way of influencing chemical reactions. His research showed that chemical processes could generate a substantially greater excess of one mirror-image form of a molecule than had previously been considered possible.

Soai subsequently expanded on this understanding. In 1995, he published research describing a chemical reaction capable of producing a homochiral outcome. In 2003, he achieved a further milestone by demonstrating a reaction in which only one of two possible mirror-image molecules was formed.

Their discoveries provided important insights into how homochirality can arise from chemical processes and significantly advanced the field of asymmetric synthesis.

The research has particular relevance to pharmaceutical development, where the two mirror-image forms of a molecule can have markedly different effects when interacting with living organisms. The ability to selectively produce one specific form is therefore important in the development and manufacture of several medicines and other biologically active compounds.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognises Kagan and Soai for discoveries that have advanced both the understanding and control of asymmetric chemical reactions, while providing new insights into the origins of chemical asymmetry in biological systems.