- Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, announced in Stockholm on Wednesday, 7 October 2026.
- Kagan discovered non-linear effects in 1986, and in 2003 Soai presented a self-copying reaction that ends up making almost only one mirror-image form of a molecule.
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says the discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for making pharmaceuticals.
Chemistry Nobel 2026 explained: why mirror-image molecules matter
Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for showing how reactions can favour one 'hand' of a molecule. Here is what they found and why it reaches far beyond the lab.
Henri B. Kagan of France and Kenso Soai of Japan have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering how chemical reactions can be steered to make just one of the two mirror-image forms of a molecule. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. The Academy honoured the pair "for…