THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

A 1986 DNA model used by Aziz Sancar, who was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

About the prize

“The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- – -/ one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement…”  (Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel.)

Chemistry was the most important science for Alfred Nobel’s own work. The development of his inventions as well as the industrial processes he employed were based upon chemical knowledge. Chemistry was the second prize area that Nobel mentioned in his will.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.

See all chemistry laureates or learn about the nomination process.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026

They made chemistry choose a mirror image

Some molecules, such as amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. However, living organisms only contain one of these mirror images. How chemical asymmetry such as this could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists. Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 for discovering a solution to this puzzle.

Press release
Popular information: They solved chemistry’s asymmetric mystery
Scientific background: Non-linear effects and auto catalysis in asymmetric organic catalysis

An illustration of mirror image molecures holding hands

© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The 2026 chemistry laureates

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

Henri Kagan discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions, allowing a greater excess of one of the mirror images to be created than was previously assumed possible. His discovery has been revolutionary for chemists who develop reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, flavours, scents and new materials.

Kenso Soai designed the first chemical reaction in which only one of the potential mirror images was formed. Other than life itself, no one had ever achieved this feat. The Soai reaction is one of the most spectacular chemical experiments ever conducted.

Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

Did you know that some chemical reactions create two different molecules, which are mirror images of each other?

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What are the Nobel Prize categories?

The Nobel Prize categories are physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and were laid out in the will of Alfred Nobel. Find out more in the FAQ.

The Nobel Prize medal.

The Nobel Prize medal.

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Nobel Prizes and laureates

A model showing the structure of hemoglobin, which was mapped by Max Perutz, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

All Nobel Prizes in Chemistry

See the full list of chemistry prizes and laureates

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Women who changed science

Read about the contributions, careers and lives of women who have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their scientific achievements.
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Articles in chemistry

Featured laureates

Marie Curie, née Sklodowska

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911 in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element.

Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.

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Who first predicted global warming?

Learn more about Svante Arrhenius, who first made the connection between carbon dioxide levels and global temperature.

Sea level rise, NASA

A map of the Earth with a six-metre sea level rise represented in red

Credit: NASA

The world’s smallest machines

Watch the Nobel Lecture by one of 2016’s laureates Jean-Pierre Sauvage, who helped develop molecular machines.

Jean-Pierre Sauvage

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Interview with a double awardee

Frederick Sanger received the prize twice: in 1958 for his work on the structure of proteins and in 1980 for DNA sequencing.

Frederick Sanger Calibration catalogue of amino acids (1)

The double Nobel-awarded laureate Frederick Sanger‘s calibration catalogue of amino acids

© Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964

Mapping molecules

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin’s work determining the 3D structure of molecules had immediate implications. Her map of the structure of penicillin made the drug easier to manufacture.

Molecular model of penicillin by Dorothy Hodgkin, c.1945.

Photo: Science Museum London/Science and Society Picture Library [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1961

Carbon dioxide assimilation

Melvin Calvin showed how plants convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and created a clear picture of a complicated sequence of reactions.

Melvin Calvin (1)

Berkeley Labs

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018

Enzyme revolution

Frances Arnold conducted the first directed evolution of enzymes. The uses of results include more environmentally friendly manufacturing of chemical substances.

Chemistry Laureate Frances Arnold in the laboratory

Chemistry laureate Frances Arnold in the laboratory.

Photo kindly provided by Caltech