STOCKHOLM : The discoveries have provided chemists with new tools for controlling chemical reactions and helped address a long-standing question in chemistry: how homochirality, the predominance of one molecular mirror image in living organisms, can emerge.

Molecules such as amino acids can exist in two forms that are mirror images of each other, known as enantiomers. While both forms can be produced in chemical reactions, living organisms predominantly use only one of them.

Kagan’s discovery of non-linear effects has become an important tool for chemists designing chemical reactions. When a reaction produces a non-linear response, it can provide information about how the reaction proceeds, helping researchers optimise processes and obtain purer enantiomers.

This is particularly important in industries producing substances that interact with living organisms, including pharmaceuticals, flavours, fragrances and agricultural chemicals. The ability to control molecular handedness can also be important in developing new materials.

Soai’s work on what became known as the Soai reaction, an example of autocatalysis, has generated renewed interest in understanding how chemical asymmetry and, potentially, homochirality could have emerged during the origins of life.

Researchers around the world are studying whether similar processes can be used to produce homochiral compounds such as amino acids and sugars.

The Nobel Committee for Chemistry said the discoveries by Kagan and Soai provided a solution to a chemical mystery that had challenged scientists for more than a century: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously.

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