The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the German Benjamin List and the American of Scottish origin David WC MacMillan «for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis». Translated, the discovery of a new type of catalysis that allows the use of organic molecules with a simpler and more effective procedure has been rewarded. “It’s a wonderful day, I’m surprised,” were List’s first words. “I absolutely didn’t expect that,” he said, adding that he was on vacation in Amsterdam with his family when he got the call from Sweden. He explained that he initially didn’t know MacMillan was working on the same theme as him and thought his might just be a “stupid idea” until it worked. At the same time, however, “I felt that it could be something great.”
Their research was awarded to the new technique that the two researchers, independently, have developed, called organocatalysis. This allows the molecules to be combined together to obtain new ones, preventing contamination from occurring during the reaction. Thanks to this technique it is possible to obtain, for example, new molecules of pharmacological interest, or new generation solar cells or more efficient batteries. Another important implication is that it is an environmentally friendly technique, functional to the so-called “green chemistry”.
“Their work has had a great impact on pharmaceutical research and made chemistry greener,” reads the rationale for the Nobel Prize. “It has already benefited mankind greatly,” said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel committee. The rationale for the award explains the following: ‘Catalysts are fundamental tools for chemists, but researchers have long believed that, in principle, only two types were available: metals and enzymes. Benjamin List and David MacMillan receive the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry because in 2000, independently of each other, they developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and is based on small organic molecules ».
And again: «Organocatalysis has developed at an astonishing speed since 2000. Benjamin List and David MacMillan remain industry leaders and have shown that organic catalysts can be used to drive a multitude of chemical reactions. Using these reactions, researchers can now more efficiently build anything from new drugs to molecules that can capture light in solar cells. In this way, the organocatalysts are bringing the maximum benefit to humanity ».
Goran K. Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, called it “an ingenious tool for building molecules.” The use of asymmetric organocatalysis includes the search for new drugs and has also helped make chemistry more environmentally friendly.
Benjamin List, 53, was born in Frankfurt, Germany, where he graduated in 1997. He currently heads the Max Plank Institute specializing in catalysis research. David WC MacMillan is the same age and was born in 1968 in Great Britain, Bellshill. He studied in the United States, where he graduated in 1966 from the University of California at Irvine and currently teaches at Princeton University.