Nobel Chemistry Prize Awarded for Research on Molecular Asymmetry

Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.

"Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously," Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said in a press release.

Dr Kagan, born in France, is affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Dr Soai, born in Japan, with the Tokyo University of Science.

The duo's research into molecules' mirror images has "been decisive for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals", the press release said.

Many molecules of life come in versions that look alike but are not exactly identical, like right and left hands. One mirror-image of the chemical carvone smells like mint, for example, while the other has a whiff of caraway.

When designing drugs to treat diseases, scientists want to be selective about which mirror-image they are getting. They want the version of a molecule that will treat a cold, not the kind that will make the sniffles worse.

Dr Kagan and Dr Soai found ways to make chemistry pick a side, designing and manipulating reactions to produce the desired mirror-image.

The so-called "Soai reaction" is named for the experiment.

Last year, three scientists won the chemistry Nobel for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or harvest moisture from desert environments.

This year's prizes began with the Nobel for medicine, awarded on Monday to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.

The physics award on Tuesday recognised a scientist's efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos.

The literature prize is set to be awarded on Thursday. After Friday's peace prize is awarded, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.71 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organisation.