Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

Title: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai

2026年诺贝尔化学奖授予亨利·B·卡甘（Henri B. Kagan）和左右田健次（Kenso Soai）

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 to Henri B. Kagan, Université Paris-Sud, France, and Kenso Soai, Tokyo University of Science, Japan, “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”.

瑞典皇家科学院决定将2026年诺贝尔化学奖授予法国巴黎南大学的亨利·B·卡甘和日本东京理科大学的左右田健次，以表彰他们“在不对称有机合成中发现非线性效应和自催化作用”。

Some molecules, such as amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. However, living organisms only contain one of these mirror images. How chemical asymmetry such as this could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists. Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 for discovering a solution to this puzzle.

某些分子（如氨基酸）以两种互为镜像的变体形式存在。然而，生物体中仅包含其中一种镜像。这种化学不对称性是如何产生的，长期以来一直是化学家们的一个谜。亨利·B·卡甘和左右田健次因发现了解开这一谜题的方法而被授予2026年诺贝尔化学奖。

Life’s chemistry is what chemists call homochiral, after the Greek words for “same” and “hand”. Like hands, all amino acids exist as two mirrored variants, but only one of them is found in the proteins in your cells. The other is rarely found in nature.

生命的化学被称为“同手性”（homochiral），该词源自希腊语中“相同”和“手”的意思。就像双手一样，所有氨基酸都以两种镜像变体存在，但你细胞内的蛋白质中只发现其中一种。另一种在自然界中极为罕见。

For a long time, chemists wondered how homochirality can emerge. When they began to experiment with chemical reactions that can form two mirrored molecules, they always obtained equal proportions of both in their test tubes. However, chemists strived to produce only one of these mirror images, because in the development of molecules that will interact with living beings – such as in pharmaceuticals – only one mirror image will have the desired effect.

长期以来，化学家们一直想知道同手性是如何产生的。当他们开始尝试能形成两种镜像分子的化学反应时，在试管中总是得到等比例的两种产物。然而，化学家们努力只生产其中一种镜像，因为在开发与生物体相互作用的分子（如药物）时，只有一种镜像能产生预期的效果。

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 recognises discoveries that have enabled chemists to drive chemical reactions that lead to homochirality.

2026年诺贝尔化学奖旨在表彰那些使化学家能够驱动导致同手性化学反应的发现。

“Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have provided a solution to a chemical mystery that is over a century old: how homochirality can emerge spontaneously. The chemical reactions they have developed are spectacular,” says Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

诺贝尔化学委员会主席海纳·林克（Heiner Linke）表示：“亨利·卡甘和左右田健次为一个困扰了化学界一个多世纪的谜题提供了解决方案：同手性是如何自发产生的。他们开发的化学反应非常壮观。”

Henri Kagan took the first decisive step in 1986, when he discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions. This allowed him to create a greater excess of one of the mirror images than had previously been thought possible.

亨利·卡甘在1986年迈出了决定性的第一步，当时他发现了一种操纵化学反应的新方法。这使他能够创造出比以往认为可能实现的更高比例的单一镜像产物。

Kenso Soai took the next step. In 1995, a key publication describes how he designed the first ever chemical reaction that had the potential to be homochiral. In 2003, he finally succeeded. He presented a reaction in which only one of the two possible mirror images was formed. Other than life itself, no one had previously achieved this feat.

左右田健次迈出了下一步。1995年，一篇重要的出版物描述了他如何设计出有史以来第一个具有同手性潜力的化学反应。2003年，他终于成功了。他展示了一个反应，其中只形成了两种可能镜像中的一种。除了生命本身，此前没有人实现过这一壮举。

Thanks to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai, we now know how homochirality can emerge. Their discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

多亏了亨利·卡甘和左右田健次，我们现在知道了同手性是如何产生的。他们的发现对于设计药物制造反应的化学家来说具有决定性意义。