The German Benjamin List and American David Macmillan receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on small-molecule catalysis. Chemical reactions can be accelerated with catalysts. The Nobel Committee announced this on Wednesday morning.
Many chemical reactions are slow or inefficient. Catalysts can speed up reactions and reduce the energy required, without being used up themselves. Catalysts are indispensable for the production of substances on an industrial scale. An estimated 35 percent of global GDP can be traced back to efficient catalysis, according to the Nobel Committee. Thanks to this technology, the virus inhibitor oseltamivir can be made in five steps instead of twelve.
Until recently, researchers thought that the catalysis of reactions required complex enzymes or large metal complexes. List and Macmillan independently discovered a third type in 2000, in which small molecules are used as catalysts.
List used the amino acid proline to catalyze a reaction in which two carbon atoms are forged together. Proline is a simple and inexpensive component of proteins. Proline was even able to catalyze the conversion of molecules into a specific ‘mirror image’ (isomer).
List said in a first reaction: “I was having breakfast with my wife on holiday in Amsterdam and suddenly I saw a Swedish phone number calling me. An unforgettable moment.”
The amount of money associated with the Nobel Prize this year has been set at 10 million Swedish kronor, approximately 986,000 euros. List and Macmillan each get half the price.
This post is being updated
The German Benjamin List and American David Macmillan receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on small-molecule catalysis. Chemical reactions can be accelerated with catalysts. The Nobel Committee announced this on Wednesday morning.
Many chemical reactions are slow or inefficient. Catalysts can speed up reactions and reduce the energy required, without being used up themselves. Catalysts are indispensable for the production of substances on an industrial scale. An estimated 35 percent of global GDP can be traced back to efficient catalysis, according to the Nobel Committee. Thanks to this technology, the virus inhibitor oseltamivir can be made in five steps instead of twelve.
Until recently, researchers thought that the catalysis of reactions required complex enzymes or large metal complexes. List and Macmillan independently discovered a third type in 2000, in which small molecules are used as catalysts.
List used the amino acid proline to catalyze a reaction in which two carbon atoms are forged together. Proline is a simple and inexpensive component of proteins. Proline was even able to catalyze the conversion of molecules into a specific ‘mirror image’ (isomer).
List said in a first reaction: “I was having breakfast with my wife on holiday in Amsterdam and suddenly I saw a Swedish phone number calling me. An unforgettable moment.”
The amount of money associated with the Nobel Prize this year has been set at 10 million Swedish kronor, approximately 986,000 euros. List and Macmillan each get half the price.
This post is being updated
The German Benjamin List and American David Macmillan receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on small-molecule catalysis. Chemical reactions can be accelerated with catalysts. The Nobel Committee announced this on Wednesday morning.
Many chemical reactions are slow or inefficient. Catalysts can speed up reactions and reduce the energy required, without being used up themselves. Catalysts are indispensable for the production of substances on an industrial scale. An estimated 35 percent of global GDP can be traced back to efficient catalysis, according to the Nobel Committee. Thanks to this technology, the virus inhibitor oseltamivir can be made in five steps instead of twelve.
Until recently, researchers thought that the catalysis of reactions required complex enzymes or large metal complexes. List and Macmillan independently discovered a third type in 2000, in which small molecules are used as catalysts.
List used the amino acid proline to catalyze a reaction in which two carbon atoms are forged together. Proline is a simple and inexpensive component of proteins. Proline was even able to catalyze the conversion of molecules into a specific ‘mirror image’ (isomer).
List said in a first reaction: “I was having breakfast with my wife on holiday in Amsterdam and suddenly I saw a Swedish phone number calling me. An unforgettable moment.”
The amount of money associated with the Nobel Prize this year has been set at 10 million Swedish kronor, approximately 986,000 euros. List and Macmillan each get half the price.
This post is being updated
The German Benjamin List and American David Macmillan receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on small-molecule catalysis. Chemical reactions can be accelerated with catalysts. The Nobel Committee announced this on Wednesday morning.
Many chemical reactions are slow or inefficient. Catalysts can speed up reactions and reduce the energy required, without being used up themselves. Catalysts are indispensable for the production of substances on an industrial scale. An estimated 35 percent of global GDP can be traced back to efficient catalysis, according to the Nobel Committee. Thanks to this technology, the virus inhibitor oseltamivir can be made in five steps instead of twelve.
Until recently, researchers thought that the catalysis of reactions required complex enzymes or large metal complexes. List and Macmillan independently discovered a third type in 2000, in which small molecules are used as catalysts.
List used the amino acid proline to catalyze a reaction in which two carbon atoms are forged together. Proline is a simple and inexpensive component of proteins. Proline was even able to catalyze the conversion of molecules into a specific ‘mirror image’ (isomer).
List said in a first reaction: “I was having breakfast with my wife on holiday in Amsterdam and suddenly I saw a Swedish phone number calling me. An unforgettable moment.”
The amount of money associated with the Nobel Prize this year has been set at 10 million Swedish kronor, approximately 986,000 euros. List and Macmillan each get half the price.
This post is being updated