Nobel Prize 2026 in Chemistry awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

The two scientists were recognised for discoveries that helped explain how chemical reactions can produce molecules with a particular handedness, or chirality, and how a small imbalance between two mirror-image forms can be amplified.

Henri B. Kagan showed that the amount of a chiral catalyst and the handedness of the molecules produced do not always have a simple linear relationship. His work helped explain how small differences between mirror-image molecules can be amplified during chemical reactions.


Kenso Soai discovered asymmetric autocatalysis, in which a molecule produced in a reaction helps produce more of itself. In the Soai reaction, a small initial imbalance between two mirror-image forms can grow into a much larger imbalance.

The discovery has also helped scientists study how molecular asymmetry may have emerged in biological systems.

Also Read: Nobel Prize 2026 winners list: Check all laureates, categories and what they won

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. The Academy has awarded the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry since 1901.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded 117 times between 1901 and 2025, with 198 individuals receiving the prize.

Also Read: Nobel Prize 2026 in Chemistry: Henri B. Kagan, Kenso Soai help solve mystery of molecular asymmetry

The youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was Frédéric Joliot, who was 35 years old when he received the 1935 prize for the synthesis of new radioactive elements. While the oldest person to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was John B. Goodenough, who was 97 years old when he received the 2019 prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

Last year, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of metal-organic frameworks.

The scientists developed molecular structures with large spaces that can be used to capture and store gases and other substances.

Marie Curie and her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie made history as the only mother and daughter to each receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Marie Curie won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries of the elements radium and polonium, and the isolation and study of radium.

Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband, Frédéric Joliot, for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.

Only two people have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice: Frederick Sanger and Barry Sharpless.

Frederick Sanger won the Chemistry Nobel in 1958 and 1980. Barry Sharpless received the prize in 2001 and 2022.

The Chemistry prize follows the Medicine prize on Monday and the Physics prize on Tuesday.

The Literature prize will be announced on Thursday, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on October 12.