Two researchers awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering new catalyst

Copenhagen, Oct 6 (EFE).- Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their “development of asymmetric organocatalysis,” the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced on Wednesday.

Their work has had a “great impact on pharmaceutical research and has made chemistry greener,” it added.

The two scientists have received the prestigious prize for developing a third catalyst in 2000 after researchers believed there were only two types of catalysts.

Catalysts are fundamental tools for chemists.

Asymmetric organocatalysis builds upon small organic molecules, allowing researchers to “efficiently construct anything from new pharmaceuticals to molecules that can capture light in solar cells,” the academy said.

“This concept for catalysis is as simple as it is ingenious, and the fact is that many people have wondered why we didn’t think of it earlier,” chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Johan Åqvist, said. EFE

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