Henri B. Kagan of France and Kenso Soai of Japan won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on October 7, Reuters reported. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm for discoveries involving non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.
The academy explains that some molecules have two forms resembling left and right hands: they are mirror images but cannot be superimposed. This property is called chirality. Living systems favour particular forms of many essential molecules, raising the question of how that chemical imbalance can arise.
According to the academy, Kagan found that reactions could yield a larger excess of one mirror form than chemists had expected. These non-linear effects gave researchers a way to understand reaction mechanisms and improve the purity of their products. His work expanded the tools available for selective synthesis.
Soai developed a reaction in which the product helps catalyse its own formation, amplifying the predominance of one mirror form. The Royal Society of Chemistry describes the two scientists’ discoveries as enabling reactions that lead to homochirality, where one molecular handedness prevails.
The practical importance extends to drug manufacturing, the Royal Society of Chemistry says. Mirror forms of a drug molecule can act differently in the body: one may provide the intended benefit while the other causes unwanted effects. Controlling which form is produced therefore matters for pharmaceutical chemistry.
The academy stresses that the Soai reaction is artificial and differs from the chemistry of life. It nevertheless inspired research into life’s origins. Scientists are trying to achieve similar results with amino acids and sugars, pursuing how the molecular preference found in living systems could emerge.
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