The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2026 on Wednesday in Stockholm to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”The 2026 Nobel Chemistry laureates include Kagan, affiliated with Université Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and 95-year-old Soai, who is affiliated with the Tokyo University of Science.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Chemistry to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”October 7, 2026 Discovering a new way of manipulating chemical reactions, Kagan’s findings allowed a greater excess of one of the mirror images to be created than was previously assumed possible. Henri Kagan’s discovery will be instrumental for chemists who develop reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, flavours, scents and new materials.

Thanks to the discoveries that are being recognised by the #NobelPrize in Chemistry 2026, chemists have gained fundamental new tools for use in their daily work but, above all, these discoveries have contributed to solving one of chemistry’s greatest mysteries: how homochirality – like that found in all living beings – can be created.

The Soai reaction – developed by 2026 laureate Kenso Soai – has awakened new enthusiasm in chemists who want to understand the life’s origins. Around the world, researchers are now trying to repeat Soai’s achievement, but with the aim of producing homochiral amino acids and sugars.

The non-linear effects that fellow laureate Henri B. Kagan discovered have become an important tool for chemists when they design new reactions. The fact that a reaction is non-linear provides chemists with information about how it occurs. This information can be used to optimise the reaction, so they can obtain the purest possible enantiomers of the product. This is vital for every company that manufactures substances that are intended to interact with living beings, such as pharmaceuticals, flavours, scents and agricultural chemicals. In some cases, it is also important in the production of new materials.

Meanwhile, Kenso Soai devised the world’s first chemical reaction wherein 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,” the Nobel committee stated.

2026 #NobelPrize laureate 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.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists last year for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside. The scientific achievement laid the foundation to potentially suck the greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and harvest moisture from the desert environment, the reported.

Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry said, “Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously. The chemical reactions they have developed are spectacular.”Nobel 2026: three announced, three to come Where the prizes stand on Wednesday, October 7.

Medicine Mon 5 Oct Physics Tue 6 Oct Chemistry Wed 7 Oct Literature Thu 8 Oct 4:30 pm IST Peace Fri 9 Oct Economics Mon 12 Oct 3:15 pm IST Announced Still to come Monday 5 Oct Physiology or Medicine Karl Deisseroth Stanford University, US Peter Hegemann Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Georg Nagel University of Würzburg, Germany for “discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics” In short Switching individual nerve cells in a living brain on and off with light.

Tuesday 6 Oct Francis Halzen University of Wisconsin–Madison, US“for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin” Using a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice to catch high-energy neutrinos from space.

Wednesday 7 Oct Henri B. Kagan Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France Kenso Soai Tokyo University of Science, Japan“for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis” A century-old puzzle: how molecules of just one mirror-image form can emerge spontaneously.

Times for the remaining prizes are converted from CEST and are the earliest announcement times, except Peace, which is fixed. Economics is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.