The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences declared the German chemist Benjamin List and the Scottish-born chemist David W.C.MacMillan as the Nobel prize laureates 2021 in Chemistry. This award is for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis, a precise new tool for molecular construction. The construction of molecules is revolutionized with this technique. The award consists of the gold medal and a prize amount of 10 million Swedish kronor.
The development in Asymmetric catalysis has a great impact on pharmaceutical research and also made chemistry greener. Earlier researchers believed that there existed two types of catalysts: metals and enzymes. In 2000, both Benjamin and McMillan independently developed asymmetric organocatalysis, the third type of catalysis. And they reported that smaller organic molecules are to speed up the process of making molecules. This eventually made the production of drugs more easier. It also includes both antiviral and anti-anxiety medication.
In accordance with John Lorsch, Director of the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the work of Benjamin and MacMillan is like molecular carpentry. They found ways to speed up the chemical joining process as well as have control in the orientation of atoms, either right-hand or left-hand direction.
Earlier the usage of metals as the standard catalyst caused bad effects on the environment. These metals accumulate, leach and may be hazardous too. But the chemists came up with a cheaper organic catalyst that degrades in a faster mode said H. N.Cheng, the President of the American Chemical Society.
The use of organic catalysts rapidly expanded due to their ability to drive asymmetric catalysis. Often two different molecules obtain during the building process of a molecule and they are each other’s mirror image. But in the production of pharmaceuticals, chemists need only one of these molecules. Also, side effects will occur if the orientation of the new atoms is not controlled when it is added to the molecule. In addition, the Nobel Prize panel cited the Thalidomide drug, which caused birth defects in children as an instance.
Since 2000, Organic catalysis has developed at an astonishing pace. Being the leaders in this field, Macmillan and List show that the organic catalyst can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions. Currently, researchers can construct anything efficiently from new pharmaceuticals to molecules which has the ability to capture light in solar cells. Thereby bringing the greatest profit to mankind.
Reference: NobelPrize.org
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