2026 Chemistry Nobel recognises amplification of molecular chirality
Quick dive
- French chemist Henri Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai won the 2026 Chemistry Nobel for work showing how reactions can amplify small molecular asymmetries.
- Chiral molecules exist in mirror-image forms like left and right hands, and biological molecules can preferentially use one form.
- Proteins are largely built from amino acids with one preferred mirror-image arrangement, while enzymes and receptors are also chiral.
- The research on chiral catalysts helped explain and optimise chemical drug treatment because differently handed molecular forms can interact differently with biological targets.
- exam_relevance: tests chirality, enantiomers and asymmetric catalysis through the article’s Nobel-linked discovery and pharmacological consequence; UPSC Prelims 2020 asked conceptual science questions on molecular and biological processes, while Chemistry-aware GS3 questions often use Nobel discoveries as current anchors.
Full explanation
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