“Our prime minister wants to call me…” 2026 chemistry laureate Kenso Soai needed to cut short our interview when he learnt that the Japanese prime minister was trying to reach him. Before then, the new laureate spoke to us about his excitement on being awarded the #NobelPrize. Soai also explained how it feels to have researchers all over the world studying his famous Soai reaction – one of the most spectacular chemical experiments ever conducted.

“In basic research, we want to learn more and more about how molecules behave and how they can interact – this year's prize fits into that.” Immediately after the announcement, Peter Somfai, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, was interviewed by freelance journalist Sharon Jåma regarding the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Learn more about the 2026 #NobelPrize in Chemistry Press release: bit.ly/3SZAbEH Popular information: bit.ly/4h1xPxd Advanced information: bit.ly/4h2P6pG

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.

Kenso Soai – awarded the 2026 #NobelPrize in Chemistry – 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.

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.