The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021

Two scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry Wednesday for finding an “ingenious” new way to build molecules that can be used to make everything from medicines to food flavorings.

Benjamin List of Germany and Scotland-born David W.C. MacMillan developed “asymmetric organocatalysis” - work that has already had a significant impact on pharmaceutical research, said Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The tool has also made chemistry “greener,” the judges said.“It’s already benefiting humankind greatly,” said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the nobel panel.