Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2021

Context

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for developing asymmetric organocatalysis.

Key-points

• They develop a new and ingenious tool for molecule building “organocatalysis”. 
  • Many research areas and industries are dependent on chemists’ ability to construct molecules that can form elastic and durable materials, store energy in batteries or inhibit the progression of diseases. This work requires catalysts.
  • According to researchers, there were just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes. 
    • Catalysts are any substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed.
  • In 2000, they, independent of each other, developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and builds upon small organic molecules.
  • Organic catalysts can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions.
  • Using these reactions, researchers can now more efficiently construct anything from new pharmaceuticals to molecules that can capture light in solar cells.
  • These catalysts were both environmentally friendly and cheap to produce.

What is organocatalysis?

• In organic chemistry, organocatalysis is a form of catalysis in which the rate of chemical reactions is increased by an organic catalyst.
• This "organocatalyst" contains carbon, hydrogen, sulfur and other non-metallic substances found in organic chemicals.

About Benjamin's list

• Benjamin List, also known as Ben List, is a German chemist who is one of the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research and a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Cologne.
• He worked on organocatalysis, a method that accelerated chemical reactions and made them work better.

David MacMillan

• David William Cross MacMillan FRS FRSE is a British-American chemist. 
• He is a Professor of the University of Chemistry at Princeton University, where he also chaired the Department of Chemistry from 2010 to 2015.