The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Benjamin List from Germany and David McMillan from the United Kingdom. They are awarded for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. This is reported on the award website.
The prize is 10 million Swedish kronor (over 83 million rubles), which will be divided equally among the winners. The prize was awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The names of the laureates were appointed by the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, the Academy's working body, made up of five to six members elected for a three-year term. & Nbsp;
Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Photo: Reuters
What development has received the Nobel Prize in chemistry?
Benjamin List and David McMillan received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for independently developing a new tool for molecular construction in 2000: the organocatalyst. It had a major impact on pharmaceutical research and made chemistry more sustainable, according to the award's website.
For many years, chemists have been creating molecules capable of forming elastic or durable materials, storing energy in batteries, preventing the development of diseases in humans, etc. This requires catalysts & ndash; substances whose task is to control and accelerate chemical reactions without being part of the final product. For example, catalysts convert toxic substances in car exhaust gases into harmless molecules.
Chemists have long believed that there are only two types of catalysts : metals and enzymes. Leaf and & nbsp; Macmillan has developed a third type of catalysis & ndash; & nbsp; asymmetric organocatalysis based on small organic molecules.
Organic catalysts are made up of carbon atoms to which more active chemical elements can attach. Often this is oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorus. Thus, these catalysts are environmentally friendly and inexpensive to manufacture.
The peculiarity of organic catalysts is that they are able to stimulate asymmetric catalysis, when two different molecules are formed. when building a molecule, which are mirror images of each other. In this case, chemists often only need one molecule, especially in the production of pharmaceuticals.
Organocatalysis & ndash; it is a popular direction in chemistry that has developed at high speed since 2000. Liszt and Macmillan & ndash; leaders in this field. Their work has demonstrated that organic catalysts can be used for a variety of reactions, from developing new pharmaceuticals to creating molecules capable of capturing light in solar panels.
What do we know about Nobel Prize winners?
David US McMillan was born in 1968 in Bellshill in central Scotland. He defended his doctorate in 1996 at the University of California, USA. Professor at Princeton University (New Jersey, USA).
Benjamin List was born in 1968 in Frankfurt, Germany. Obtained his doctorate in 1997 from Goethe University in Frankfurt. He is a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). & Nbsp;
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