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2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the chemistry prize to the French and Japanese chemists for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.
Why it matters
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced on October 7 in Stockholm, awarded jointly to French chemist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.” Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said the two solved a chemical mystery more than a century old: how homochirality could emerge spontaneously in nature.
The discoveries
Kagan discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions as early as 1986. Soai created the first chemical reaction that produces only one of a molecule's mirror images — the now-famous “Soai reaction” — showing that a tiny initial imbalance can be strongly amplified during the reaction. The committee said these discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for manufacturing pharmaceuticals.
The laureates
Kagan was born in 1930 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, and is professor emeritus at Université Paris-Sud in Orsay. Soai was born in 1950 in Hiroshima, Japan, and is professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science. Soai told the committee by phone that he was out shopping near his home when the call came. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Kagan, calling the prize an immense source of pride for the country. This year's prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor (about US$1.2 million).
Nobel week so far
The 2026 Nobel week opened with the medicine prize on October 5 (Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel, for optogenetics) and the physics prize on October 6 (Francis Halzen, for the IceCube neutrino observatory). The literature prize follows on October 8, the peace prize on October 9, and the economics prize on October 12.
Sources
Associated Press (via NPR), Britannica
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