STOCKHOLM — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry Wednesday for finding an \u201cingenious\u201d and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that can be used to make everything from medicines to food flavorings.<\/p>\n
The work of Benjamin List of Germany and Scotland-born David W.C. MacMillan has allowed scientists to produce those molecules more cheaply, efficiently, safely — and with significantly less environmental impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already benefiting humankind greatly,\u201d said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel.<\/p>\n
Making molecules — which requires linking individual atoms together in specific arrangement \u2014 is a difficult and slow task. Until the beginning of the millennium, chemists had only two methods \u2014 or catalysts \u2014 to speed up the process.<\/p>\n
That all changed in 2000, when List, of the Max Planck Institute, and MacMillan, of Princeton University, independently reported that small organic molecules can be used to do the same job as big enzymes and metal catalysts.<\/p>\n
The new method, known as asymmetric organocatalysis, \u201cis used widely today, for example, in drug discovery and in fine chemicals production,\u201d said Wittung-Stafshede.<\/p>\n
Johan \u00c5qvist, chair of the Nobel panel, called the new method as \u201csimple as it is ingenious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is that many people have wondered why we didn\u2019t think of it earlier,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
H.N. Cheng, president of the American Chemical Society, said the laureates developed \u201cnew magic wands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the laureates\u2019 work, \u201cthe standard catalysts frequently used were metals, which frequently have environmental downsides,\u201d said Cheng. \u201cThey accumulate, they leach, they may be hazardous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The catalysts that MacMillan and List pioneered \u201care organic so they will degrade faster, and they are also cheaper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Peter Somfai, another member of the committee, stressed the importance of the discovery for the world economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been estimated that catalysis is responsible for about 35% of the world\u2019s GDP, which is a pretty impressive figure,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have a more environmentally friendly alternative, it\u2019s expected that that will make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking after the announcement, List said the award was a \u201chuge surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really made my day today,\u201d the 53-year-old said by telephone to the journalists gathered for the announcement from his vacation in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
List said he did not initially know that MacMillan was working on the same subject and figured his hunch might just be a \u201cstupid idea\u201d — until it worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw it worked, I did feel that this could be something big,\u201d he said of his eureka moment.<\/p>\n
Since their discovery, the tool has been further refined, making it many times more efficient, said List, adding that the \u201creal revolution\u201d was only just beginning.<\/p>\n
List said the award would allow him even greater freedom in his future work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope I live up to this, to this recognition and continue discovering amazing things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
MacMillan had not yet been reached by the time of the announcement, said Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n
It is common for several scientists who work in related fields to share the prize. Last year, the chemistry prize went to Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer A. Doudna of the United States for developing a gene-editing tool that has revolutionized science by providing a way to alter DNA.<\/p>\n
The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million). The prize money comes from a bequest left by the prize\u2019s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize in physiology or medicine to Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch.<\/p>\n
The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded Tuesday to three scientists whose work found order in seeming disorder, helping to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change.<\/p>\n
Over the coming days prizes will also be awarded for outstanding work in the fields of literature, peace and economics.<\/p>\n