Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to French chemist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese scientist Kenso Soai for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.
The laureates received the award for research that helped explain how a chemical reaction can spontaneously produce predominantly one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule. This was stated in a press release issued by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 7 October 2026.
Some molecules, including amino acids, exist in two forms that are mirror images of each other. Living organisms, however, predominantly use only one of them. This property of chemical systems is known as homochirality and remained an unresolved problem for scientists for a long time.
In ordinary chemical reactions capable of producing two mirror-image forms of the same molecule, approximately equal amounts of both variants are often formed. However, producing predominantly one form is important, particularly in the development of pharmaceuticals, because different mirror-image forms of the same molecule can interact differently with living organisms.
Henri Kagan took the first important step in this direction in 1986, when he discovered a new way of controlling chemical reactions. His approach made it possible to obtain a significantly greater excess of one mirror-image form of a molecule than had previously been considered possible.
The next key stage was linked to the research of Kenso Soai. In 1995, he published a study describing the first chemical reaction potentially capable of leading to homochirality. In 2003, he succeeded in demonstrating a reaction in which only one of the two possible mirror-image forms was produced.
According to the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, the work of Kagan and Soai helped demonstrate how homochirality can arise spontaneously. Their discoveries are also important for the development of chemical reactions used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
Henri B. Kagan was born in 1930 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. He received his PhD from Collège de France in 1960 and is Professor Emeritus at the former Université Paris-Sud.
Kenso Soai was born in 1950 in Hiroshima, Japan. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1979 and is Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of Science.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is worth 12 million Swedish kronor. The laureates will share the prize equally.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739. The Academy is an independent organisation dedicated to advancing science and strengthening its role in society, with particular responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics.
