The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Chem Club Discussion
CHEM Club, sponsored by A.P. Chemistry teacher Mrs. Sutherland, recently discussed the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the last club meeting. The prize was awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis." Simply speaking, these laureates discovered a way to spontaneously produce homochiral molecules with a specific “handedness.” Molecules called isomers with the same molecular formula can act very differently depending on their relative orientation in space, and for the longest time it was nearly impossible to completely separate these molecules. Soai and Kagan developed a method to develop one handedness of a molecule, which is vital in modern pharmaceutical work where certain molecules are only beneficial as one enantiomer but harmful as the other.
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