French, Japanese scientists share Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to French chemist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai for their pioneering discoveries of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday said Kagan and Soai solved a century-old mystery of how molecular asymmetry, or homochirality, can emerge spontaneously in nature. Many molecules, including amino acids, exist in two mirror-image forms. While these variants are chemically similar, living organisms overwhelmingly use only one form. For decades, scientists struggled to understand how such selectivity emerged naturally. According to the Nobel Committee, chemists traditionally obtained equal amounts of both mirror-image molecules during laboratory synthesis. The discoveries by Kagan and Soai demonstrated how chemical reactions can be steered toward producing predominantly or even exclusively one mirror image.

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.” https://t.co/nH090ql1Xc

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2026

This is a breakthrough with major implications for modern chemistry, particularly pharmaceutical development where the correct molecular form is often crucial for therapeutic effectiveness. Kagan made a major breakthrough in 1986 by developing a method to influence chemical reactions to produce a higher excess of one molecular mirror image, while Soai built on this work with a groundbreaking reaction in 1995 and in 2003 demonstrated a reaction producing only one of the two possible mirror-image forms. The two laureates will share a prize of 12 million Swedish kronor.