Chemistry · Oct 7, 2026
Kenso Soai
“for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”
- Born
- Hiroshima, Japan, 1950
- Age at award
- 76
- Affiliation at award
- Tokyo University of Science
Key work
“Asymmetric autocatalysis and amplification of enantiomeric excess of a chiral molecule,” Nature, 1995
Sources1nobelprize.org
Career
- 1979PhD, University of Tokyo, under Teruaki Mukaiyama
- 1979–81Postdoc at UNC Chapel Hill with Ernest Eliel
- 1981Lecturer at the Tokyo University of Science. Full professor by 1991
- 1995Designs the first reaction that could make only one mirror image of a molecule: the Soai reaction
- 2001–15Visiting professor in Paris, Kyushu, Waseda, Strasbourg and Jilin
- 2016Retires; professor emeritus
- 2025Japan Academy Prize
Lesser-known facts
- The Nobel announcement called his reaction “one of the most spectacular chemical experiments ever conducted.”
- Said he never expected the prize, “let alone this year.”
- Also said: “I may sound arrogant, but I had thought I would not get complaints if I won.”
Mentors and collaborators
- Doctoral advisor
- Teruaki Mukaiyama
- Postdoc mentor
- Ernest L. Eliel, UNC Chapel Hill
- Frequent co-authors
- Takanori Shibata, Itaru Sato, Keisuke Suzuki
Earlier honors
Inoue Prize (2000), Chirality Medal (2005), Purple Ribbon Medal (2012), Order of the Sacred Treasure (2023), Japan Academy Prize (2025)
Sources1en.wikipedia.org
