Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Kagan and Soai

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for their groundbreaking research into controlling the “mirror images” of molecules.

Their work has advanced the understanding of molecular chirality — molecules that are mirror images of each other but are not identical — and how these forms can be created and controlled. This approach is particularly important in drug development, as different forms of the same molecule can have completely different effects on the human body.

Kagan’s research, which began in the 1980s, was later advanced by Soai’s work, which led to what is now known as the “Soai reaction.” This reaction makes it possible to selectively produce only one of a molecule’s mirror-image forms.

The 95-year-old Henri B. Kagan is based in France, while Kenso Soai, born in 1950, works in Japan.

This year’s Nobel Prize announcements began with the awards in medicine and physics. The laureates in literature, peace and economics will be announced later this week.