Henri Kagan, Kenso Soai win chemistry Nobel for research into mirror-image molecules
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to two chemists for their research into the mirror images of molecules, which is decisive for the development of pharmaceuticals.
Henri Kagan, 95, is a professor at the Université Paris-Sud in France. He is a French citizen. Kenso Soai, a 76-year-old Japanese citizen, is a professor at the Tokyo University of Science.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said that they were being honoured for the discovery of “non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”.
Some molecules, such as amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. However, living organisms only contain one of these mirror images.
“How chemical asymmetry such as this could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists,” the academy said, adding that Kagan and Soai discovered “a solution to this puzzle”.
Their discoveries have been “decisive for chemists who design reactions” for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, it added.
The two chemists will equally share the prize amount of 12 million Swedish kronor, or Rs 11.5 crore.
The Nobel Prize in literature will be announced on Thursday and for peace on Friday. The prize in economics will be announced on October 12.
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