The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today, 7 October 2026, that Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Kagan is at Université Paris-Sud in France, and Soai is at Tokyo University of Science in Japan. The prize recognizes “the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.” The announcement was made in Stockholm.
The work centers on chirality, the “handedness” of molecules. Some molecules exist as non-identical mirror images of each other, a little like our hands. In nature, most molecules occur in only one of these forms, a phenomenon called homochirality that has long puzzled scientists. This matters because the two mirror forms of a molecule can behave very differently in the body, which is why the distinction is critical in medicine.
Their discoveries explain how this one-sided preference can arise. Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said the pair solved a chemical mystery more than a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously. The committee added that, apart from life itself, no one had previously achieved this. The prize honors two linked ideas, non-linear effects and autocatalysis, in which a reaction’s own product steers it toward one mirror form.
The real-world impact is large. The committee said the work has been revolutionary for chemists who develop reactions for making pharmaceuticals, flavors, scents and new materials. David Pendlebury of Clarivate noted that the work opened new directions for chemists exploring how molecular complexity arose. He also said the award shows how the significance of fundamental discoveries can take decades to be fully appreciated.
The prize also carries some notable milestones. The two laureates share 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. That is up from 11 million kronor last year. This is the 118th chemistry prize since Jacobus van ‘t Hoff received the first one in 1901. Kagan is also the 67th person to have won a Royal Society of Chemistry prize before going on to a Nobel. The announcements continue with Literature on 8 October, Peace on 9 October and Economic Sciences on 12 October.
