The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai, shared equally, "for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis." The announcement came on October 7.
The work concerns chirality, the mirror-image property of many molecules. Nobel Committee chair Heiner Linke called it "foundational chemistry"; the laureates showed how small imbalances between mirror-image forms can be amplified, shedding light on how chemical asymmetry may have emerged, a long-standing puzzle.
Each laureate receives half of the 12 million Swedish kronor prize (about $1.2 million). The medals will be presented in Stockholm on December 10.