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The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on October 6. Before the announcement of the Nobel committee’s decision, it was speculated that it could go to the developers of the mRNA technology that was used to make two COVID-19 vaccines. However, this did not happen. This year’s Nobel Prize went to Benjamin List and David WC MacMillan for the discovery of asymmetric organoleptic catalysis. What is it actually?
- On the backstage, it was rumored that this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine would be awarded to developers of mRNA technology, which plays a key role in containing the coronavirus pandemic. When this did not happen, it was suspected that the discovery could be included on the occasion of the Nobel Prize in chemistry
- However, the Nobel Committee, as always, decided to surprise everyone who tried to predict his decision. The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to the discoverers of asymmetric organic catalysis
- It is quite a complicated chemical problem, but it does have an impact on our daily lives. Asymmetric organic catalysis is used, inter alia, in when creating drugs
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Nobel Prize 2021 in chemistry for Benjamin List and David WC MacMillan. Who are these scientists?
Benjamin List is a chemist born in Germany. David WC MacMillan, who is also a chemist, was born in Scotland. Both scientists, independently of each other, came to the same conclusions, thanks to which in 2000 the world learned about asymmetric organic catalysis.
Their discovery contributed to positive changes of a broad nature. First, it facilitated the production of drugs. Second – it reduced the cost of such a process. The third advantage is the positive impact on the environment. Asymmetric organic catalysis allows the production of drugs, cosmetics and plastics in a more natural way and at a lower temperature.
The rest of the text is below the video.
Nobel Prize 2021 – chemistry. Symmetric organic catalysis – what exactly is it?
Symmetric organic catalysis is related to the mirror image of molecules. They are not identical to each other, and the scientists’ discovery allows for the isolation of the molecule that will be applicable in a given matter. We are talking about molecules that are supposed to lead to a reaction, and therefore about catalysts. So it is not a chemical compound that has, for example, healing properties in itself, but a kind of “activator”.
The chemist Dr. Maria Górna from the Department of Theoretical and Structural Chemistry, commenting on the committee’s decision, introduced a little closer to the application of this discovery in medicine. She cited the example of thalidomide, a drug that was supposed to be a safe painkiller and sedative. It was used in the 50s.
– The need to catalyze compounds with a certain chiral (torsion) is associated with the fact that because our own proteins are also chiral, in order to create a drug that is properly matched to the active site in such a protein, in order to inhibit an enzyme, it is necessary to take particular care of the correct structure of this compound . There is an example of a drug which, due to the fact that it was administered to patients with poor chirality (e.g. thalidomide), caused very serious health effects, the chemist added during the Nobel Week organized by the Center for Cooperation and Dialogue of the University of Warsaw.
As a result of the use of thalidomide by pregnant women, several thousand children were born with deformed or absent limbs. In the 90s, however, the drug, which was notoriously infamous, returned to favor. It has proven to be helpful for AIDS patients. It has also been discovered that it may be a hope for cancer patients. In the following years, scientists developed two thalidomide derivatives. One of them – lenalidomide – is currently used in the treatment of multiple myeloma, extending the life of patients with this cancer. The second – pomalidolide – in combination with dexamethasone improves the prognosis of patients with refractory and relapsed myeloma.
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