Paris-Sud University

It's also opened up new possibilities for studying Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to André B. Kagan at the University of Paris-Sud in France and Kenso Soai of the Tokyo University of Science.

The committee recognized them, quote, for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysts in asymmetric organic synthesis, end quote.

So what does that mean? One of the strangest facts about chemistry is that some molecules can exist in two forms that have exactly the same atoms and chemical bonds but are mirror images of each other.

Thanks for breaking that down for us, Joe.

Last but not least is the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which this year honored Avril Kagan of Paris Sud University and Kento Soai of the Tokyo University of Science for their pioneering research on autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.

Try saying that one five times fast.

Many molecules come in two versions that are mirror images of each other.

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai were awarded the twenty twenty-six Nobel Prize, Prize in Chemistry for breakthroughs that have helped advance the development of modern pharmaceuticals.

Kagan of France's Université Paris-Sud, University of Paris South, and Soai, who is based at Tokyo University of Science, will share the twelve million Swedish kronor, or roughly one point two million dollar prize.

The pair's research relates to a concept called possibly homochirality.

Let me spell that to you in a second.

Yep, and this is exactly where Henri B. Kagan enters the picture.

So in 1986, working at the Université Paris-Sud in France, Kagan decided to really test the boundaries of that linear dogma.

He suspected that the transfer of chiral information during a reaction just wasn't always a simple one-to-one ratio.

He was looking at how metal catalysts physically bind to their target molecules to initiate a reaction, right?

As always, we are going to talk about the science from the ground up today, starting with who won.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan of the former university Paris Sud in France, and Kenzo Soai of Tokyo University of Science in Japan.

And the official citation is, "For the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis."

Talk about a mouthful.

Yeah

... on how to get there, right? And it's spread widely among chemists.

It becomes kind of a chemical puzzle that university lecturers present to their students.

Like, "This is an open problem.