Kagan and Soai win 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for discoveries involving nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. The work showed how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule, advancing research into how a strong preference for one form, known as homochirality, can emerge. The Academy’s award rationale describes the discoveries as enabling chemists to drive reactions toward one molecular form. Many molecules occur in two mirror-image versions, often compared to left and right hands. Although the versions contain the same atoms, their different shapes can affect how they interact with living systems. Nearly all molecules that make up life use one handedness, a pattern that has puzzled chemists for more than a century. The distinction is also relevant to drug development. The Nobel Foundation said that mirror-image versions of some drug molecules can have different effects: one may provide a therapeutic benefit while the other may cause unnecessary or harmful side effects.