Nobel chemistry prize goes to pair who solved mystery of ‘mirror image’ molecules
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Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel committee for chemistry, explaining the research field of winners Henri Kagan and Japan's Kenso Soai at a press conference in Stockholm on Oct 7.
PHOTO: AFP
- Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.
- Kagan found a new way to make more of one mirror-image molecule, while Soai created the first reaction that formed only one mirror image.
- They will receive medals in Stockholm on Dec 10 and share 12 million Swedish kronor, the award’s top honour and global fame.
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STOCKHOLM – Scientists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry for solving a longstanding riddle of asymmetric “mirror image” molecules, a discovery vital to pharmaceutical manufacturing, the award-giving body said on Oct 7.
Soai, 76, is Japanese, and Kagan, 95, is French. Their work builds on a discovery by 19th-century French chemist Louis Pasteur.
“This is the most exciting day in my life, I am very glad to share this prize with Professor Henri Kagan,” Soai said via phone to the Nobel Prize press conference, adding that he had been out shopping when he received the news.
The Nobel committee was still trying to reach Kagan to inform him of the award.
The chemistry Nobel, always the third prize to be awarded during Nobel week, followed those for medicine announced on Oct 5 and physics on Oct 6.
Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel committee for chemistry, said: “So this year’s prize is about foundational chemistry. Many molecules occur in two different versions – like my hands.
“They are one another’s mirror image; they look alike, but they are not identical. I cannot put my hands on top of one another. Such molecules are called chiral, from the Greek word for hand.”
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Kagan discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions, allowing a greater excess of one of the mirror images to be created than was previously assumed possible.
Soai designed the first chemical reaction in which only one of the potential mirror images is formed.
The first link in the chain in solving the problem was the work of Pasteur, who died before the Nobel Prizes were first awarded.
Established in the will of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, the prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace began in 1901, with a few interruptions mostly due to the world wars.
Nobel, a chemist by trade, amassed huge wealth in the 19th century from inventions primarily tied to warfare, most notably dynamite. The economics prize is a later addition funded by the Swedish central bank.
Sometimes overshadowed by more famous laureates in physics, literature and peace, the chemistry awards have still recognised many influential discoveries, such as nuclear fission and genetic sequencing techniques.
The 2025 chemistry award went to scientists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for the development of so-called metal-organic frameworks, molecular constructions that can help tackle challenges such as climate change and lack of fresh water.
The laureates will receive their medals from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The awards are followed by a lavish banquet at Stockholm City Hall.
Awardees also share 12 million Swedish kronor (S$1.5 million), as well as the fame of winning what is arguably the world’s most prestigious science award.
The Peace Prize, the only Nobel not presented in Sweden, is awarded separately in Oslo. REUTERS