Chemistry Nobel goes to trio for development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry

Click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions have taken chemistry into the era of functionalism

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, one of the three laureates of the 2022 Chemistry Nobel, which has been awarded in equal parts to Americans Ms. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, and Danish scientist Morten Meldal for developing a way of “snapping molecules together.” that can be used to design better medicines. Photo: Stanford Media Relations via AP

The Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2022 is being awarded to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless for developing “an ingenious tool for building molecule”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in Stockholm.

The Nobel laureautes are being awarded for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry, the academy said.

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless are being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Professor Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, has taken click chemistry to a new dimension and started utilising it in living organisms. Her bioorthogonal reactions take place without disrupting the normal chemistry of the cell.

Barry Sharpless and Morten Meldal have laid the foundation for a functional form of chemistry – click chemistry – in which molecular building blocks snap together quickly and efficiently.

While American Professor Sharpless works in Scripps Research, Mr. Meldal is a Professor at University of Copenhagen.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 is about making difficult processes easier. Click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions have taken chemistry into the era of functionalism, the academy said.

Click chemistry is utilised in the development of pharmaceuticals, for mapping DNA and creating materials that are more fit for purpose. Using bioorthogonal reactions, researchers have improved the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals.

Last year the prize was awarded to scientists Benjamin List and David WC MacMillan for finding an ingenious and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that the Nobel panel said is “already benefiting humankind greatly.”

The Nobel Prize announcements kicked off on Monday with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo receiving the award in medicine for unlocking secrets of Neanderthal DNA that provided key insights into our immune system.

Three scientists jointly won the prize in physics on Tuesday. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger had shown that tiny particles can retain a connection with each other even when separated, a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement, that can be used for specialised computing and to encrypt information.

The awards continue with literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on Monday.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on December 10.

The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel in 1895. 

• The Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2022 is being awarded to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless for developing “an ingenious tool for building molecule”.
• The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 is about making difficult processes easier. Click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions have taken chemistry into the era of functionalism, the academy said.
• Click chemistry is utilised in the development of pharmaceuticals, for mapping DNA and creating materials that are more fit for purpose. Using bioorthogonal reactions, researchers have improved the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals.

Published - October 05, 2022 03:19 pm IST