Complex Chemicals Made Easy with a 'Click'... Bertozzi, Meldal, and Sharpless Win Nobel Chemistry Prize (Comprehensive)

Caricature of the 2022 Nobel Chemistry Prize winners. Carolyn Bertozzi, Professor at Stanford University (from left), Morten Meldal, Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Barry Sharpless, Researcher at the Scripps Research Institute. Photo by the Nobel Committee

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Professor Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, Professor Morten Meldal of the University of Copenhagen, and researcher Barry Sharpless of the Scripps Research Institute. They were highly praised for transforming the complex and difficult chemical synthesis process into an easy and simple one, contributing to humanity.

On the 5th (local time), the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry would be awarded in recognition of achievements in the field of “click chemistry.” For researcher Sharpless, this is his second time receiving the Chemistry Prize, having previously won in 2001. Johan ?qvist, chair of the Nobel Chemistry Committee, remarked, “This year’s Chemistry Prize is about dealing with things that are easy and simple, rather than overly complex problems.”

The Nobel Committee stated, “Researcher Sharpless and Professor Meldal led chemistry into the era of functionalism,” and “They receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for establishing the foundation of click chemistry.” Regarding Professor Bertozzi, they said, “She has taken click chemistry to a new dimension,” and “Her bioorthogonal reactions contribute to targeted cancer therapy.”

Click chemistry refers to a technique for obtaining compounds. It is called “click chemistry” because compounds can be obtained as easily as clicking a mouse. The simple method of creating compounds made producing new materials easier, gaining great popularity in research labs and industrial development fields. In particular, it began to be used in the pharmaceutical field to produce and optimize potential therapeutic substances. This is because the development of chemical substances important for new drug development usually requires a lot of time and cost.

Click chemistry was first proposed by researcher Sharpless and experimentally demonstrated by Professor Meldal. Professor Bertozzi succeeded in implementing this research within living organisms such as microbes.

The Nobel Committee will announce the winners of the Literature Prize on the 6th, the Peace Prize on the 7th, and the Economics Prize on the 10th, following the Chemistry Prize announced on this day. The Physiology or Medicine Prize was awarded on the 3rd, and the Physics Prize on the 4th.

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