Year

Winner

Country*

Achievement

1901

Hoff  van't,  Jacobus H

Netherlands

for work on rates of reaction, chemical equilibrium, and osmotic pressure

1902

Fischer, Emil

Germany

Fischer's research on the purines was instituted in 1881. He determined the structures of uric acid, xanthine, caffeine, theobromine, and other related compounds, and he showed that they are all derivatives of a single compound, a nitrogenous base that he named purine.

Despite major complications because of stereochemical relations, Fischer was able to use these derivatives to determine the molecular structures of fructose, glucose, and many other sugars, and he was able to verify his results by synthesizing those compounds. He also showed how to distinguish the formulas of the 16 stereoisometric glucoses. In the course of his stereochemical research, Fischer discovered that there are two series of sugars, the D sugars and the L sugars, that are mirror images of each other. His study of sugars led him to investigate the reactions and substances involved in fermentation, and, in his investigations of how enzymes break down sugars, Fischer laid the foundations for enzyme chemistry.

1903

Arrhenius, Svante

Sweden

theory of electrolytic dissociation.
Arrhenius not only proposed that acids and bases break up into ions, but he used ions to explain neutralization reactions and electrical conductivity of solutions.

1904

Ramsay, Sir William

U.K.

discovery of inert gas elements and their places in the periodic system.
Through fractional distillation and spectral analysis of liquid argon from liquid air, Ramsay discovered neon, krypton and xenon.

1905

Baeyer, Adolf von

Germany

Notable among Baeyer's many achievements were the discovery of the phthalein dyes(including indigo) and his investigations of uric acid derivatives, polyacetylenes, and oxonium salts. One derivative of uric acid that he discovered was barbituric acid, the parent compound of the sedative-hypnotic drugs known as barbiturates.

Baeyer proposed a "strain" (Spannung) theory that helped explain why carbon rings of five or six atoms are so much more common than carbon rings with other numbers of atoms.

1906

Moissan, Henri

France

isolation of fluorine; introduction of Moissan furnace
By electrolysis of HF, Moissan isolated fluorine and remarked that it could attack even cold silicon, burning it with occasional sparks.

1907

Buchner, Eduard

Germany

for demonstrating that the fermentation of carbohydrates results from the action of different enzymes contained in yeast and not the yeast cell itself. He showed that an enzyme, zymase, can be extracted from yeast cells and that it causes sugar to break up into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

1908

Rutherford, Ernest

U.K.

investigations into the disintegration of elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances
His research with alpha particles led him to propose a model of the atom in which most of the atom's mass was concentrated in a small positive nucleus.

1909

Ostwald, Wilhelm

Germany

pioneer work on catalysis, chemical equilibrium, and reaction velocities
Ostwald showed that acidic ions that play a role in catalysis are also released by the reactants themselves, thus compensating for the consumption of the acid added initially.

1910

Wallach, Otto

Germany

1911

Curie, Marie

France

discovery of radium and polonium; isolation of radium

1912

Grignard, Victor

France

discovery of the Grignard reagents, consisting of organometallic compounds in which a negatively polarized carbon can add itself and its adjacent atoms to an organic compound containing an electrophilic site

Sabatier, Paul

France

for his method of hydrogenating organic compounds in the presence of finely disintegrated metals. In 1897 he reduced ethylene to ethane with hydrogen using nickel as a catalyst and eventually extended his approach to wide variety of organic compounds.

1913

Werner, Alfred

Switzerland

for coordination theory, which permitted a simple classification of inorganic compounds and extended the concept of isomerism

1914

Richards, Theodore William

U.S.

accurate determination of the atomic weights of numerous elements
Richards improved the determination of atomic masses; by modern standards, they were accurate to three decimal places, paving the way for the discovery of isotopes.

1915

Willstätter, Richard

Germany

pioneer researches in plant pigments, especially chlorophyll

1916-17

No Prizes awarded

1918

Haber, Fritz

Germany

In the first decade of the 20th century the rapidly increasing demand for nitrogen fertilizer greatly exceeded the supply, which still came mainly from Chilean nitrate. The problem of utilizing atmospheric nitrogen for this purpose had become of worldwide concern. (See nitrogen fixation.) Haber developed a method for synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, and by 1909 he had established conditions for the large-scale synthesis of ammonia. The process was handed over to Carl Bosch of Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik for industrial development, leading to the Haber-Bosch process.

1919

No Prize awarded

1920

Nernst, Walther Hermann

Germany

work in thermochemistry
His third law states that at absolute zero (0 K) the entropy of every substance is zero.

1921

Soddy, Frederick

U.K.

chemistry of radioactive substances; occurrence and nature of isotopes

1922

Aston, Francis William

U.K.

work with mass spectrograph; whole-number rule
By using a mass spectograph, which separates particles of different masses by a magnetic field, he showed that most elements were a mixture of different isotopes. He calso came up with the whole number rule, which states that the mass of a specific isotope is a whole number.

1923

Pregl, Fritz

Austria

method of microanalysis of organic substances

1925

Zsigmondy, Richard

Austria

elucidation of the heterogeneous nature of colloidal solutions

1926

Svedberg, Theodor H.E.

Sweden

for his studies in the chemistry of colloids and for his invention of the ultracentrifuge, which he used to determine precisely the molecular weights of highly complex proteins such as hemoglobin

1927

Wieland, Heinrich Otto

Germany

for his determination of the molecular structure of bile acids.

1928

Windaus, Adolf

Germany

Windaus discovered 7-dehydrocholesterol , which is the chemical precursor of vitamin D, and he showed that it is a steroid.

He discovered that it is converted into the vitamin when one of its chemical bonds is broken by the action of sunlight. This explained why exposure to sunlight can prevent vitamin D deficiency (rickets) in humans. Windaus' research also helped establish the chemistry of the sex hormones and advanced the development of drugs used to treat heart ailments

1929

Euler-Chelpin, Hans von

Sweden

Harden, Sir Arthur

U.K.

1930

Fischer, Hans

Germany

Hemin is a crystalline product of hemoglobin. By splitting in half the molecule of bilirubin, a bile pigment related to hemin, Fischer obtained a new acid in which a section of the hemin molecule was still intact. Fischer identified its structure and found it to be related to pyrrole.

This made possible the artificial synthesis of hemin from simpler organic compounds whose structure was known. Fischer also showed that there is a close relationship between hemin and chlorophyll, and by the time of his death he had nearly completed the synthesis of chlorophyll.

1931

Bergius, Friedrich

Germany

invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods. These studies led to his work on converting coal into liquid hydrocarbons.

Bosch, Carl

Germany

1932

Langmuir, Irving

U.S.

discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry. Langmuir's studies of molecular films on solid and liquid surfaces opened new fields in colloid research and biochemistry.

1934

Urey, Harold C.

U.S.

discovery of hydrogen's heavy isotope deuterium

1935

Joliot-Curie, Frédéric

France

synthesis of new radioactive elements

1936

Debye, Peter

 Netherlands

for their work on dipole moments and diffraction of X rays and electrons in gases
Debye helped reveal the nature of polar molecules,which have an overall positive and negative parts to them. He did this by studying their alignments in magnetic fields.

1937

Haworth, Sir Norman

U.K.

In 1934, with the British chemist Sir Edmund Hirst, he succeeded in synthesizing  vitamin C, the first to be artificially produced.

This accomplishment not only constituted a valuable addition to knowledge of organic chemistry but also made possible the cheap production of vitamin C (or ascorbic acid, as Haworth called it) for medical purposes.

Karrer, Paul

Switzerland

Karrer's best-known researches were on plant pigments, particularly the yellow ones (carotenoids), which are related to the pigment in carrots. He not only elucidated the chemical structure of the carotenoids but also showed that some of these substances are transformed into vitamin A in the animal body. In 1930 he established the correct formula for carotene--

the chief precursor of vitamin A--and this was the first time that the chemical structure of a vitamin had been established. Shortly afterward he was able to determine the constitution of vitamin A itself.

1938

Kuhn, Richard (declined)

Germany

Kuhn investigated the structure of compounds related to the carotenoids, the fat-soluble yellow colouring agents widely distributed in nature. He discovered at least eight carotenoids, prepared them in pure form, and determined their constitution. He discovered that one was necessary for the fertilization of certain algae. Simultaneously with Paul Karrer he announced the constitution of vitamin B₂ and was the first to isolate a gram of it. With coworkers he also isolated vitamin B₆.

1939

Butenandt, Adolf (declined)

Germany

In 1929, almost simultaneously with Edward A. Doisy in the United States, Butenandt isolated estrone, one of the hormones responsible for sexual development and function in females.

In 1931 he isolated and identified androsterone, a male sex hormone, and in 1934, the hormone progesterone, which plays an important part in the female reproductive cycle. It was now clear that sex hormones are closely related to steroids, and after Ruzicka showed that cholesterol could be transformed into androsterone, he and Butenandt were able to synthesize both progesterone and the male hormone testosterone. Butenandt's investigations made possible the eventual synthesis of cortisone and other steroids and led to the development of birth control pills.

Ruzicka, Leopold

Switzerland

1943

Hevesy, Georg Charles von

Hungary

for the use of isotopes as tracers in chemical research

1944

Hahn, Otto

Germany

for the discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei

1945

Virtanen, Artturi Ilmari

Finland

Knowing that the fermentation product, lactic acid, increases the acidity of the silage to a point at which destructive fermentation ceases, he developed a procedure (known by his initials, AIV) for adding dilute hydrochloric or sulfuric acid to newly stored silage, thereby increasing the acidity of the fodder beyond that point. In a series of experiments (1928-29), he showed that acid treatment has no adverse effect on the nutritive value and edibility of the fodder and of products derived from animals fed the fodder.

1946

Northrop, John Howard

U.S.

preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in pure form. He crystallized pepsin, a digestive enzyme present in gastric juice, in 1930 and found that it is a protein, thus resolving the dispute over what enzymes are. Using the same chemical methods, he isolated in 1938 the first bacterial virus (bacteriophage), which he proved to be a nucleoprotein. Northrop also helped isolate and prepare in crystalline form pepsin's inactive precursor pepsinogen (which is converted to the active enzyme through a reaction with hydrochloric acid in the stomach); the pancreatic digestive enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin; and their inactive precursors trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen.

Stanley, Wendell Meredith

U.S.

for the preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in pure form. In 1935 Stanley crystallized tobacco mosaic virus (TMV, the causative agent of a plant disease) and showed that it is a rod-shaped aggregate of protein and nucleic acid molecules. His work enabled other scientists, utilizing methods of X-ray diffraction, to ascertain unambiguously the precise molecular structures and the modes of propagation of several viruses.

Sumner, James Batcheller

U.S.

After crystallizing the enzyme urease in 1926, Sumner went to Stockholm to study with Hans von Euler-Chelpin and Theodor (The) Svedberg. He crystallized the enzyme catalase in 1937 and also contributed to the purification of several other enzymes.

1947

Robinson, Sir Robert

U.K.

His most important studies were undertaken on alkaloids; these are complex, naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing compounds that can have profound biochemical effects on living things. Robinson's efforts to determine the chemical reactions that form alkaloids in plants led him to discover the structures of morphine (1925) and strychnine (1946).

1948

Tiselius, Arne

Sweden

for their researches in electrophoresis and adsorption analysis. He used electrophoretic methods to separate the chemically similar proteins of blood serum

1949

Giauque, William Francis

U.S.

for revealing the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures. His research confirmed the third law of thermodynamics, which states that the entropy of ordered solids reaches zero at the absolute zero of temperature. In the course of his low-temperature studies of oxygen, Giauque discovered with Herrick L. Johnston the oxygen isotopes of mass 17 and 18.

1950

Alder, Kurt

West Germany

for the discovery and development of diene synthesis. The diene synthesis consists essentially of the linking of a diene, which is a substance containing two alternate double bonds, to a dienophile, which is a compound containing a pair of doubly or triply bonded carbon atoms. The diene and dienophile readily react to form a six-membered ring compound. Similar reactions had been recorded by others, but it was Alder and Diels who provided the first experimental proof of the nature of the reaction and demonstrated its application to the synthesis of a wide range of ring compounds. Diene synthesis can be effected without the use of powerful chemical reagents. It has been used to synthesize such complex molecules as morphine, reserpine, cortisone and other steroids, the insecticides dieldrin and aldrin, and other alkaloids and polymers.

Diels, Otto Paul Hermann

West Germany

1951

McMillan, Edwin Mattison

U.S.

for the discovery of and research on transuranium elements

Seaborg, Glenn T.

U.S.

1952

Martin, A.J.P.

U.K.

for the development of partition chromatography. Martin and Synge invented paper partition chromotography in 1944. Partition chromatography depends on the partition, or distribution, of each component of a mixture between two immiscible liquids. One of the liquids is held stationary by strong adsorption on the surface of a finely divided solid while the other flows through the interstices of the solid particles. Any substance that preferentially dissolves in the mobile liquid is more rapidly transported in the direction of flow than is a substance that has greater affinity for the stationary liquid.

Synge, R.L.M.

U.K.

1953

Staudinger, Hermann

West Germany

for their work on macromolecules; devised a relationship between viscosity and molecular weight

1954

Pauling, Linus

U.S.

study of the nature of the chemical bond; introduced hybridization. In order to account for the equivalency of the four bonds around the carbon atom, he introduced the concept of hybrid orbitals, in which electron orbits are moved from their original positions by mutual repulsion. Pauling also recognized the presence of hybrid orbitals in the coordination of ions or groups of ions in a definite geometric arrangement about a central ion. His theory of directed (positive and negative) valence (the capacity of an atom to combine with other atoms) was an outgrowth of his early work, as was the concept of the partial ionic character of covalent bonds--i.e., atoms sharing electrons. His empirical concept of electronegativity, the power of attraction for electrons in a covalent bond, was useful in further clarification of these problems. In the case of compounds whose molecules cannot be represented unambiguously by a single structure, he introduced the concept of resonance hybrids whereby the true structure of the molecule is regarded as an intermediate state between two or more depictable structures. The resonance theory came under heavy but unsuccessful attack in the U.S.S.R. in 1951 when doctrinaire scientists of the Communist Party argued that it conflicted with dialectical materialist principles.

1955

du Vigneaud, Vincent

U.S.

for the isolation and synthesis of two pituitary hormones: vasopressin, which acts on the muscles of the blood vessels to cause elevation of blood pressure; and oxytocin, the principal agent causing contraction of the uterus and secretion of milk.

1956

Hinshelwood, Sir Cyril Norman

U.K.

for their work on the kinetics of chemical reactions

They studied chain mechanisms (a series of in between steps between the reactant and product in a reaction) involving free radicals (atoms or molecules with an unpaired electron)

Semyonov, Nikolay Nikolayevich

U.S.S.R.

1957

Todd (of Trumpington), Alexander Robertus Todd, Baron

U.K.

While at Manchester he began work on nucleosides, compounds that form the structural units of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). In 1949 he synthesized a related substance, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is vital to energy utilization in living organisms.

He synthesized two other important compounds, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in 1949 and uridine triphosphate in 1954. In 1955 he elucidated the structure of vitamin B₁₂.

1958

Sanger, Frederick

U.K.

for the determination of the structure of the insulin molecule

1959

Heyrovský, Jaroslav

Czech.

for the discovery and development of polarography, an instrumental method of chemical analysis used for qualitative and quantitative determinations of reducible or oxidizable substances. Heyrovský's instrument measures the current that flows when a predetermined potential is applied to two electrodes immersed in the solution to be analyzed.

1960

Libby, Willard Frank

U.S.

In 1946 he showed that tritium, the heaviest isotope of hydrogen, was produced by cosmic radiation. The following year he and his students developed the carbon-14 dating technique. This technique is used to date material derived from former living organisms as old as 50,000 years. It measures small amounts of radioactivity from the carbon-14 in organic or carbon-containing materials and is able to identify older objects as those having less radioactivity.

1961

Calvin, Melvin

U.S.

for the study of chemical steps that take place during photosynthesis. Calvin began his work on photosynthesis in the mid-1940s. For his studies he developed a system of using the radioactive isotope carbon-14 as a tracer element in the green alga Chlorella. By arresting the plant's growth at various stages and measuring the tiny amounts of radioactive compounds present, Calvin was able to identify most of the reactions involved in the intermediate steps of photosynthesis.

1962

Kendrew, Sir John Cowdery

U.K.

He determined the structure of the muscle protein myoglobin, which stores oxygen and gives it to the muscle cells when needed

Perutz, Max Ferdinand

U.K.

1963

Natta, Giulio

Italy

for thestructure and synthesis of polymers in the field of plastics.

In 1953 Natta began intensive study of macromolecules. Using Ziegler's catalysts, he experimented with the polymerization of propylene and obtained polypropylenes of highly regular molecular structure. The properties--high strength, high melting points--of these polymers soon proved very commercially important.

Ziegler, Karl

West Germany

1964

Hodgkin, Dorothy Mary Crowfoot

U.K.

for determining the structure of biochemical compounds (such as vitamin B₁₂)essential in combating pernicious anemia. It would later take 10 years ( from 1961 to 1971) to synthesize this particular vitamin.

1965

Woodward, R.B.

U.S.

For the synthesis of compounds such as including quinine (1944), cholesterol and cortisone (1951), and vitamin B₁₂ (1971)

1966

Mulliken, Robert Sanderson

U.S.

for work concerning chemical bonds and the electronic structure of molecules. Mulliken began working on his theory of molecular structure in the 1920s. He theoretically systematized the electron states of molecules in terms of molecular orbitals. Departing from the idea that electron orbitals for atoms are static and that atoms combine like building blocks to form molecules, he proposed that, when molecules are formed, the atoms' original electron configurations are changed into an overall molecular configuration. Further extending his theory, he developed (1952) a quantum-mechanical theory of the behaviour of electron orbitals as different atoms merge to form molecules.

1967

Eigen, Manfred

West Germany

for studies of extremely fast chemical reactions.

Norrish, Ronald George Wreyford

U.K.

Porter, Sir George

U.K.

1968

Onsager, Lars

U.S.

He applied the laws of thermodynamics to systems that are not in equilibrium--i.e., to systems in which differences in temperature, pressure, or other factors exist. Onsager also was able to formulate a general mathematical expression about the behaviour of nonreversible chemical processes that has been described as the "fourth law of thermodynamics."

1969

Barton, Sir Derek H.R.

U.K.

for research that helped establish conformational analysis (the study of the three-dimensional geometric structure of complex molecules) as an essential part of organic chemistry.

Hassel, Odd

Norway

1970

Leloir, Luis Federico

Argentina

for the discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates

1971

Herzberg, Gerhard

Canada

research in the structure of molecules.

Herzberg's spectroscopic studies not only provided experimental results of prime importance to physical chemistry and quantum mechanics but also helped stimulate a resurgence of investigations into the chemical reactions of gases. He devoted much of his research to diatomic molecules, in particular the most common ones--hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide. He discovered the spectra of certain free radicals that are intermediate stages in numerous chemical reactions, and he was the first to identify the spectra of certain radicals in interstellar gas. Herzberg also contributed much spectrographic information on the atmospheres of the outer planets and the stars.

1972

Anfinsen, Christian B.

U.S.

Anfinsen studied how the enzyme ribonuclease breaks down the ribonucleic acid (RNA) present in food. Anfinsen was able to ascertain how the ribonuclease molecule folds to form the characteristic three-dimensional structure that is compatible with its function.

Moore, Stanford

U.S.

Stein, William H.

U.S.

1973

Fischer, Ernst Otto

West Germany

organometallic chemistry

For his identification of a completely new way in which metals and organic substances can combine. After studying the synthetic substance ferrocene, he concluded that it consisted of two five-sided carbon rings with a single iron atom sandwiched between them.

Wilkinson, Sir Geoffrey

U.K.

1974

Flory, Paul J.

U.S.

for studies of long-chain molecules involved in plastics. His research demonstrated the importance of understanding the sizes and shapes of these flexible molecules in establishing relationships between their chemical structures and their physical properties..

1975

Cornforth, Sir John Warcup

U.K.

for work in  stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions such as the one involved in the synthesis of cholestrol

Prelog, Vladimir

Switzerland

for work in stereochemistry of of alkaloids, antibiotics, enzymes, and other natural compounds

1976

Lipscomb, William Nunn, Jr.

U.S.

for the structure of boranes.

By developing X-ray techniques that later proved useful in many chemical applications, Lipscomb and his associates were able to map the molecular structures of numerous boranes and their derivatives. Boranes are compounds of boron and hydrogen. The stability of boranes could not be explained by traditional concepts of electron bonding, in which each pair of atoms is linked by a pair of electrons, because boranes lacked sufficient electrons. Lipscomb showed how a pair of electrons could be shared by three atoms. His theory successfully served to describe boranes and many other analogous structures.

1977

Prigogine, Ilya

Belgium

for widening the scope of thermodynamics.

1978

Mitchell, Peter Dennis

U.K.

for the formulation of a theory of energy transfer processes in biological systems. Mitchell studied the mitochondrion, the organelle that produces energy for the cell. ATP is made within the mitochondrion by adding a phosphate group to ADP in a process known as oxidative phosphorylation. Mitchell was able to determine how the different enzymes involved in the conversion of ADP to ATP are distributed within the membranes that partition the interior of the mitochondrion. He showed how these enzymes' arrangement facilitates their use of hydrogen ions as an energy source in the conversion of ADP to ATP

1979

Brown, Herbert Charles

U.S.

introduction of compounds of boron and phosphorus in the synthesis of organic substances

Brown's work with borohydrides led to the development of an important new class of inorganic reagents. His discovery of the organoboranes revealed an array of powerful and versatile reagents for organic synthesis. He was also known for studies of reactions involving so-called carbonium ions or carbo-cations.

Wittig, Georg

West Germany

1980

Berg, Paul

U.S.

first preparation of a recombinant DNA.

Gilbert, Walter

U.S.

for the development of chemical and biological analyses of DNA structure. In the 1970s Gilbert developed a widely used technique of using gel electrophoresis to read the nucleotide sequences of DNA segments. The same method was developed independently by Sanger

Sanger, Frederick

U.K.

1981

Fukui ,Kenichi

Japan

for the orbital symmetry interpretation of chemical reactions. Hoffmann and Woodward discovered that many reactions involving the formation or breaking of rings of atoms take courses that depend on an identifiable symmetry in the mathematical descriptions of the molecular orbitals that undergo the most change. Their theory, expressed in a set of statements now called the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, accounts for the failure of certain cyclic compounds to form from apparently appropriate starting materials, though others are readily produced; it also clarifies the geometric arrangement of the atoms in the products formed when the rings in cyclic compounds are broken.

Hoffmann, Roald

U.S.

1982

Klug, Aaron

U.K.

for investigations of the three-dimensional structure of viruses and other particles that are combinations of nucleic acids and proteins, and for the development of crystallographic electron microscopy.

1983

Taube, Henry

U.S.(Canadian born)

for his extensive research into the properties and reactions of dissolved inorganic substances, particularly oxidation-reduction processes involving the ions of metallic elements.

1984

Merrifield, Bruce

U.S.

for the development of a method of polypeptide synthesis

1985

Hauptman, Herbert A.

U.S.

Hauptman and Karle devised mathematical equations to extract phase information from the intensity of spots resulting from the diffraction of X rays deflected off crystals. Their equations made it possible to pinpoint the location of atoms within the crystal's molecules based upon an analysis of the intensity of the spots.

Karle, Jerome

U.S.

1986

Herschbach, Dudley R.

U.S.

for the development of methods for analyzing basic chemical reactions

Lee, Yuan T.

U.S.

Polanyi, John C.

Canada

1987

Pedersen, Charles J.

U.S.

for the discovery of crown ethers, organic molecules that can solvate metal ions, which normally do not dissolve in organic solvents.

Lehn, Jean-Marie

France

Formed cryptands from crown ethers by replacing  O’s with N’s

Cram, Donald J.

U.S.

Formed cryptates, which selectively recognized and bound specific guest molecules and ions.

1988

Deisenhofer, Johann

West Germany

for the discovery of structure of proteins needed in photosynthesis.

Huber, Robert

West Germany

Michel, Hartmut

West Germany

1989

Altman, Sidney

U.S.

(born in Canada)

for the discovery of certain basic properties of RNA.

The old belief was that enzymatic activity--the triggering and acceleration of vital chemical reactions within living cells--was the exclusive domain of protein molecules. Altman's and Cech's revolutionary discovery was that RNA, traditionally thought to be simply a passive carrier of genetic codes between different parts of the living cell, could also take on active enzymatic functions. This new knowledge opened up new fields of scientific research and biotechnology and caused scientists to rethink old theories of how cells function.

Cech, Thomas Robert

U.S.

1990

Corey, Elias James

U.S.

for the development of retrosynthetic analysis for synthesis of complex molecules. This technique involves breaking down an organic compound into several stages, ensuring that each step is reversible so that the route can eventually be traced backwards. With such an approach, Corey synthesied a wide variety of terpenes and ginkgolide B (used in treating asthma). Link to synthesis.

1991

Ernst, Richard R.

Switzerland

for improvements in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

In 1966, working with an American colleague, Ernst discovered that the sensitivity of NMR techniques (hitherto limited to analysis of only a few nuclei) could be dramatically increased by replacing the slow, sweeping radio waves traditionally used in NMR spectroscopy with short, intense pulses. His discovery enabled analysis of a great many more types of nuclei and smaller amounts of materials.

1992

Marcus, Rudolph A.

U.S.

(born Mtl,Canada)

for an explanation of how electrons transfer between molecules. In a series of papers published between 1956 and 1965, he investigated the role of surrounding solvent molecules in determining the rate of redox reactions--oxidation and reduction reactions in which the reactants exchange electrons--in solution. Marcus determined that subtle changes occur in the molecular structure of the reactants and the solvent molecules around them; these changes influence the ability of electrons to move between the molecules. He further established that the relationship between the driving force of an electron-transfer reaction and the reaction's rate is described by a parabola. Thus, as more driving force is applied to a reaction, its rate at first increases but then begins to decrease. This insight aroused considerable skepticism until it was confirmed experimentally in the 1980s.

1993

Mullis, Kary B.

U.S.

inventors of techniques for gene study and manipulation.

Smith, Michael

Canada

1994

Olah, George A.

U.S.

development of techniques to study hydrocarbon molecules. Although theoretically recognized for several decades as a common intermediate in many organic reactions, carbocations were unobservable because they were a short-lived, unstable class of compound. Olah was able to successfully disassemble, examine, and then recombine carbocations through the use of superacids and ultracold solvents.

1995

Crutzen, Paul

Netherlands

explanation of processes that deplete Earth's ozone layer. Rowland and Molina theorized that CFC gases combine with solar radiation and decompose in the stratosphere, releasing atoms of chlorine and chlorine monoxide that are individually able to destroy large numbers of ozone molecules. The chlorine atoms were persistent because they were recycled once an intermediate radical, ClO, reacted with atomic oxygen. Earlier, in 1970 Crutzen had discovered that nonreactive nitrous oxide (N₂O), produced naturally by soil bacteria, rises into the stratosphere, where solar energy splits it into two reactive compounds, NO and NO₂. These compounds, which remain active for some time, react catalytically with ozone (O₃).

Mainly because of their influence, production of CFC's was eventually banned.

Molina, Mario

Rowland, F. Sherwood

1996

Curl, Robert F., Jr.

U.S.

Kroto, Sir Harold W.

U.K.

Smalley, Richard E.

U.S.

1997

U.S.

for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

 Denmark

for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase.

1998

JOHN A. POPLE

 U.K.

for pioneering contributions in developing methods(quantum chemistry) that can be used for theoretical studies of molecular properties and related chemical processes.

1999

AHMED ZEWAIL

U.S.

(born Egypt)

for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy.

2000

ALAN J. HEEGER

U.S.

for the discovery and development of conductive polymers.

U.S.

(born New Zealand)

2001

K. BARRY SHARPLESS

U.S.

for their work on chirally-catalysed oxidation reactions. They developed molecules that can catalyze important reactions so that only one of the two mirror image forms is produced. The catalyst molecule, which itself is chiral, speeds up the reaction without being consumed. Just one of these molecules can produce millions of molecules of the desired mirror image form.

(http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/sharpless.html)

WILLIAM S. KNOWLES,

U.S.

2002

JOHN B. FENN,

U.S.

for their development of soft desorption ionization methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules

2003

PETER AGRE

U.S.

for advancing knowledge about cellular membrane channels — passageways that control the movement of molecules across cell membranes. More details.

2005

YVES CHAUVIN

France

For developing metathesis reactions in which double bonds are broken and made between carbon atoms in ways that cause atom groups to change places. This happens with the assistance of special catalyst molecules. Metathesis can be compared to a dance in which the couples change partners.

He always used new observation techniques like low energy electron diffraction (LEED) at the beginning of his career, later ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and scanning tunneling microscope (STM) yielding ground breaking results. (directly from Wikipedia)

GFP, first isolated from jellyfish, attaches itself to regulatory proteins in the cell and allows them to be monitored

The GFP gene can now be cloned and produced in different colours to track different proteins simultaneously.

GFP has been used to detect pollutants in the environment, in glow-in-the-dark toys, and to study the growth of tumour cells.

For more details see http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2008/info.pdf

Martin Chalfie

Roger Y. Tsien

U.K

Using Xray crystallography, the three recipients generated 3D models to show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. What a nice example of intermolecular bonding! These models are now used to develop new antibiotics.

Thomas A. Steitz

Ada E. Yonath

U.S.

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Israel

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In quasicrystals, we find the fascinating mosaics of the Arabic world reproduced at the level of atoms: regular patterns that never repeat themselves. However, the configuration found in quasicrystals was considered impossible, and Dan Shechtman had to fight a fierce battle against established science. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 has fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter.

On the morning of 8 April 1982, an image counter to the laws of nature appeared in Dan Shechtman's electron microscope. In all solid matter, atoms were believed to be packed inside crystals in symmetrical patterns that were repeated periodically over and over again. For scientists, this repetition was required in order to obtain a crystal.

Shechtman's image, however, showed that the atoms in his crystal were packed in a pattern that could not be repeated. Such a pattern was considered just as impossible as creating a football using only six-cornered polygons, when a sphere needs both five- and six-cornered polygons. His discovery was extremely controversial. In the course of defending his findings, he was asked to leave his research group. However, his battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter.

Aperiodic mosaics, such as those found in the medieval Islamic mosaics of the Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Darb-i Imam Shrine in Iran, have helped scientists understand what quasicrystals look like at the atomic level. In those mosaics, as in quasicrystals, the patterns are regular - they follow mathematical rules - but they never repeat themselves.

When scientists describe Shechtman's quasicrystals, they use a concept that comes from mathematics and art: the golden ratio. This number had already caught the interest of mathematicians in Ancient Greece, as it often appeared in geometry. In quasicrystals, for instance, the ratio of various distances between atoms is related to the golden mean.

Following Shechtman's discovery, scientists have produced other kinds of quasicrystals in the lab and discovered naturally occurring quasicrystals in mineral samples from a Russian river. A Swedish company has also found quasicrystals in a certain form of steel, where the crystals reinforce the material like armor. Scientists are currently experimenting with using quasicrystals in different products such as frying pans and diesel engines.

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Your body is a fine-tuned system of interactions between billions of cells. Each cell has tiny receptors that enable it to sense its environment, so it can adapt to new situations. Robert Lefkowitz andBrian Kobilka are awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for groundbreaking discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family of such receptors: G-protein–coupled receptors.

For a long time, it remained a mystery how cells could sense their environment. Scientists knew that hormones such as adrenalin had powerful effects: increasing blood pressure and making the heart beat faster. They suspected that cell surfaces contained some kind of recipient for hormones. But what these receptors actually consisted of and how they worked remained obscured for most of the 20th Century.

Lefkowitz started to use radioactivity in 1968 in order to trace cells' receptors. He attached an iodine isotope to various hormones, and thanks to the radiation, he managed to unveil several receptors, among those a receptor for adrenalin: β-adrenergic receptor. His team of researchers extracted the receptor from its hiding place in the cell wall and gained an initial understanding of how it works.

The team achieved its next big step during the 1980s. The newly recruited Kobilka accepted the challenge to isolate the gene that codes for the β-adrenergic receptor from the gigantic human genome. His creative approach allowed him to attain his goal. When the researchers analyzed the gene, they discovered that the receptor was similar to one in the eye that captures light. They realized that there is a whole family of receptors that look alike and function in the same manner.

Today this family is referred to as G-protein–coupled receptors. About a thousand genes code for such receptors, for example, for light, flavour, odour, adrenalin, histamine, dopamine and serotonin. About half of all medications achieve their effect through G-protein–coupled receptors.

The studies by Lefkowitz and Kobilka are crucial for understanding how G-protein–coupled receptors function. Furthermore, in 2011, Kobilka achieved another break-through; he and his research team captured an image of the β-adrenergic receptor at the exact moment that it is activated by a hormone and sends a signal into the cell. This image is a molecular masterpiece – the result of decades of research.

Austria/U.S

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Chemists used to create models of molecules using plastic balls and sticks. Today, the modelling is carried out in computers. In the 1970s,Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel laid the foundation for the powerful programs that are used to understand and predict chemical processes. Computer models mirroring real life have become crucial for most advances made in chemistry today.

Chemical reactions occur at lightning speed. In a fraction of a millisecond, electrons jump from one atomic to the other. Classical chemistry has a hard time keeping up; it is virtually impossible to experimentally map every little step in a chemical process. Aided by the methods now awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, scientists let computers unveil chemical processes, such as a catalyst’s purification of exhaust fumes or the photo­synthesis in green leaves.

The work of Karplus, Levitt and Warshel is ground-breaking in that they managed to make Newton’s classical physics work side-by-side with the fundamentally different quantum physics. Previously, chemists had to choose to use either or. The strength of classical physics was that calculations were simple and could be used to model really large molecules. Its weakness, it offered no way to simulate chemical reactions. For that purpose, chemists instead had to use quantum physics. But such calculations required enormous computing power and could therefore only be carried out for small molecules.

This year’s Nobel Laureates in chemistry took the best from both worlds and devised methods that use both classical and quantum physics. For instance, in simulations of how a drug couples to its target protein in the body, the computer performs quantum theoretical calculations on those atoms in the target protein that interact with the drug. The rest of the large protein is simulated using less demanding classical physics.

Today the computer is just as important a tool for chemists as the test tube. Simulations are so realistic that they predict the outcome of traditional experiments.

U.S.

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For a long time optical microscopy was held back by a presumed limitation: that it would never obtain a better resolution than half the wavelength of light. Helped by fluorescent molecules the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2014 ingeniously circumvented this limitation. Their ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into the nanodimension.

In what has become known as nanoscopy, scientists visualize the pathways of individual molecules inside living cells. They can see how molecules create synapses between nerve cells in the brain; they can track proteins involved in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases as they aggregate; they follow individual proteins in fertilized eggs as these divide into embryos.

It was all but obvious that scientists should ever be able to study living cells in the tiniest molecular detail. In 1873, the microscopist Ernst Abbe stipulated a physical limit for the maximum resolution of traditional optical microscopy: it could never become better than 0.2 micrometres. Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Helland William E. Moerner are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for having bypassed this limit. Due to their achievements the optical microscope can now peer into the nanoworld.

Two separate principles are rewarded. One enables the method stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, developed by Stefan Hell in 2000. Two laser beams are utilized; one stimulates fluorescent molecules to glow, another cancels out all fluorescence except for that in a nanometre-sized volume. Scanning over the sample, nanometre for nanometre, yields an image with a resolution better than Abbe's stipulated limit.

Eric Betzig and William Moerner, working separately, laid the foundation for the second method, single-molecule microscopy. The method relies upon the possibility to turn the fluorescence of individual molecules on and off. Scientists image the same area multiple times, letting just a few interspersed molecules glow each time. Superimposing these images yields a dense super-image resolved at the nanolevel. In 2006 Eric Betzig utilized this method for the first time.

Today, nanoscopy is used world-wide and new knowledge of greatest benefit to mankind is produced on a daily basis.

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