Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai win 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for asymmetric synthesis

Mechanism of asymmetric synthesis

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai on Wednesday. The two scientists received the award for their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Certain molecules, such as amino acids, exist in two mirror-image configurations, yet living organisms consistently incorporate only one of these forms. Kagan, affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, and Soai, affiliated with Tokyo University of Science, resolved the question of how single-handed molecular structures emerge spontaneously during chemical synthesis.

Committee officials stated that their findings provide foundational methods for chemists who design asymmetric reactions, particularly in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs.

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously.

Prize endowment and anniversary

The monetary award accompanying the 2026 prize is set at 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million or 1.06 million euros). The Nobel Foundation increased the prize sum by 1 million kronor, representing a 9% rise, to mark the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize since its inception in 1901.

This year we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. On this occasion, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize money by one million.

The 2026 announcements also marked the first time in the 1739-founded history of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that its secretary general is a woman. Belgian-born physicist Ellen Moons, who took office at the beginning of 2026, presented the laureates in physics and chemistry, and is scheduled to present the economics prize.

Nobel week schedule

The chemistry prize was the third announcement in the annual Nobel cycle. The week commenced on Monday, 5 October, with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for discoveries in optogenetics that reveal brain activity circuits. On Tuesday, 6 October, the Nobel Prize in Physics recognized Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for research into neutrinos.

The literature prize will be announced on Thursday, 8 October, in Stockholm. The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, 9 October, in Oslo. The cycle will conclude on Monday, 12 October, with the announcement of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, which was established in 1968.

Preceding chemistry laureates

The 2026 award follows several recognitions in molecular and computational chemistry. In 2025, the chemistry prize was awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks, porous structures capable of capturing carbon dioxide, extracting water from desert air, storing toxic gases, and catalyzing reactions.

In 2024, David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper shared the prize for computational protein design and protein structure prediction. In 2023, Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Alexei Ekimov received the award for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Across the history of the award since Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff won the first prize in 1901, the chemistry Nobel has recognized developments across physical, organic, and materials science.