Soai and Kagan Awarded Nobel Chemistry Prizes for Pioneering Work on Nonlinear Effects and Autocatalysis
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Japan’s Kenso Soai and France’s Henri Kagan for their breakthrough research on nonlinear effects and autocatalysis within asymmetric organic synthesis. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the decision in Stockholm on Wednesday, recognizing how their innovative approaches reshaped fundamental understandings of chemical reaction dynamics. Their discoveries enable the precise construction of complex chiral molecules, with profound applications in pharmaceutical development and advanced material science.
Portraits of Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai appear alongside the award ceremony to honor the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 7. © TT News Agency/AP
Science
Recognition honors discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis
Portraits of Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai are shown on the screen as they receive the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct. 7. © TT News Agency/AP
Nikkei staff writers
October 7, 2026 19:44 JST
Updated on October 7, 2026 23:02 JST
TOKYO — The 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to Japan’s Kenso Soai and France’s Henri Kagan for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced in Stockholm on Wednesday.