The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Goes to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded equally to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks.”

“This is tremendous science and I’m thrilled to see the development of metal-organic frameworks recognized with this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry,” says ACS President Dorothy J. Phillips. “This award highlights chemistry's greatest strength: the ability to design and build molecular structures that address global challenges. It's also wonderful to see this international collaboration celebrated, with groundbreaking work from scientists across Japan, Australia, and the United States.”

Kitagawa has been an ACS member for 46 years and was honored by Northwestern University and ACS’ Chicago Local Section with the 2016 Basalo Award & Lecture “Discovery and Development of Functional Porous Coordination Polymers / Metal-Organic Frameworks.”

Robson published two papers in 1989 on the innovative metal-organic frameworks in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), titled “Synthesis and x-ray crystal structures of tetranickel and tetrazinc complexes of a macrocyclic tetranucleating ligand” and “Infinite polymeric frameworks consisting of three dimensionally linked rod-like segments.”

Yaghi is an Executive Editor at JACS and published a seminal paper in the journal in 1995 on the topic of the Nobel Prize, titled “Hydrothermal synthesis of a metal-organic framework containing large rectangular channels.” He received the 2009 ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials and served as chair of the Central Arizona Local Section of ACS in 1996.

The 2025 winners have each published extensively in ACS journals throughout the years. The following articles from each of these laureates, as well as related research published in ACS journals, will be made free-to-read through the end of the year in honor of their award and contributions to the advancement of science.

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A Closer Look: Metal–Organic Frameworks
Read ACS Journal Articles by Susumu Kitagawa
Read ACS Journal Articles by Richard Robson
Read ACS Journal Articles by Omar M. Yaghi
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A Closer Look: Metal-Organic Frameworks

Porous materials are as old as humanity. If you’ve ever reached for a sponge, you’ve taken advantage of a porous material’s ability to absorb, store, and release water, dirt, or cleaning solution. These materials are hugely beneficial in our day-to-day lives. They’re structurally flexible but chemically static; a sponge will soak up water and release it when you squeeze, but it doesn’t change the water.

The key breakthrough honored with this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry came from new porous materials with interesting chemical properties useful for various applications. The 2025 Laureates combined metal clusters or ions—which can catalyze reactions or preferentially bind to specific targets—with organic linking molecules in repeating modular units to create a porous structure: a Metal-Organic Framework (MOF).

Because the metal clusters/ions and linkers form an open lattice, spacious channels or “pores” are created, meaning the number of clusters/ions and linkers that can interact with a gas or liquid passing through the structure is millions of times greater than the interactions available at a hard surface. Changing the metal or organic linker changes the size and shape of the pores. This changes their flexibility, reactivity, and response to liquids or gases. These frameworks are highly customizable.

The first MOFs were synthesized by Richard Robson in 1989. As with so much of chemistry, the devil was in the details. It took dedicated and pioneering work from Robson, Omar M. Yaghi, and Susumu Kitagawa over the following decades to increase the stability of the materials, characterize their properties, and develop design principles that would allow labs and companies all over the world to tap the potential of MOFs.

MOFs attracted attention due to the new insights they have generated in fundamental chemistry and our ability to predict material structures, but they’ve also found a large and growing number of applications. Omar M. Yaghi has been at the forefront of this connection, working both at the lab bench and with a number of startups spun out of his group at the University of California, Berkeley. MOFs have been used to scrub CO₂ from the atmosphere, provide water in desert environments, extract valuable metals from wastewater, and remove harmful toxins from drinking water. It’s no accident that these applications are tackling some of the most pressing problems we face, such as climate change, clean water, and environmental toxins.

Combining fundamental understanding of the way molecules interact with ingenious molecular insight, creativity, and design rules developed to enable predictability, these researchers have opened the world to a new class of material. The applications of these materials address critical issues facing Earth and its people.

Read ACS Journal Articles by Susumu Kitagawa

Synthesis of the novel infinite-sheet and -chain copper(I) complex polymers {[Cu(C₄H₄N₂)_3/2(CH₃CN)](PF)₆)·0.5C₃H₆O}_∞ and {[Cu₂(C₈H₁₂N₂)₃](ClO₄)₂}_∞ and their x-ray crystal structures
Susumu Kitagawa, Megumu Munakata, and Tadashi Tanimura
Inorg. Chem. 1992, 31, 9, 1714–1717
DOI: 10.1021/ic00035a036

Transformation from a 2D Stacked Layer to 3D Interpenetrated Framework by Changing the Spacer Functionality: Synthesis, Structure, Adsorption, and Magnetic Properties
Tapas Kumar Maji, Masaaki Ohba, Susumu Kitagawa*
Inorg. Chem. 2005, 44, 25, 9225–9231
DOI: 10.1021/ic050835g

Polynuclear Core-Based Nickel 1,4-Cyclohexanedicarboxylate Coordination Polymers as Temperature-Dependent Hydrothermal Reaction Products
Jinxi Chen, Masaaki Ohba, Dongyuan Zhao, Wakako Kaneko, Susumu Kitagawa*
Cryst. Growth Des. 2006, 6, 3, 664–668
DOI: 10.1021/cg050363g

Template Effects in Porous Coordination Polymers
Daisuke Tanaka, Susumu Kitagawa*
Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 3, 922–931
DOI: 10.1021/cm7031866

Modular Design of Domain Assembly in Porous Coordination Polymer Crystals via Reactivity-Directed Crystallization Process
Tomohiro Fukushima, Satoshi Horike, Hirokazu Kobayashi, Masahiko Tsujimoto, Seiji Isoda, Maw Lin Foo, Yoshiki Kubota, Masaki Takata, Susumu Kitagawa*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 32, 13341–13347
DOI: 10.1021/ja303588m

Ion Conductivity and Transport by Porous Coordination Polymers and Metal–Organic Frameworks
Satoshi Horike, Daiki Umeyama, and Susumu Kitagawa
Acc. Chem. Res. 2013, 46, 11, 2376–2384
DOI: 10.1021/ar300291s

A Family of Rare Earth Porous Coordination Polymers with Different Flexibility for CO₂/C₂H₄ and CO₂/C₂H₆ Separation
Jingui Duan, Masakazu Higuchi, Maw Lin Foo, Satoshi Horike, Koya Prabhakara Rao, Susumu Kitagawa*
Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 14, 8244–8249
DOI: 10.1021/ic401157n

Metal–Organic Polyhedral Core as a Versatile Scaffold for Divergent and Convergent Star Polymer Synthesis
Nobuhiko Hosono*, Mika Gochomori, Ryotaro Matsuda, Hiroshi Sato, and Susumu Kitagawa*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 20, 6525–6531
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b01758

Future Porous Materials
Susumu Kitagawa*
Acc. Chem. Res. 2017, 50, 3, 514–516
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00500

Modular Design of Porous Soft Materials via Self-Organization of Metal–Organic Cages
Nobuhiko Hosono* and Susumu Kitagawa*
Acc. Chem. Res. 2018, 51, 10, 2437–2446
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.8b00361

Homogenized Bimetallic Catalysts from Metal–Organic Framework Alloys
Jet-Sing M. Lee, Yu-ichi Fujiwara, Susumu Kitagawa*, and Satoshi Horike*
Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 11, 4205–4212
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b01093

Grafting Free Carboxylic Acid Groups onto the Pore Surface of 3D Porous Coordination Polymers for High Proton Conductivity
Yuanmeng Tian, Gan Liang, Tao Fan, Jin Shang, Shanshan Shang, Yunsheng Ma, Ryotaro Matsuda, Mingxian Liu, Man Wang, Liangchun Li*, Susumu Kitagawa*
Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 20, 8494–8503
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b02924

MOF–Thermogel Composites for Differentiated and Sustained Dual Drug Delivery
Xin Li, Tristan T. Y. Tan, Qianyu Lin, Chen Chuan Lim, Rubayn Goh, Ken-ichi Otake, Susumu Kitagawa, Xian Jun Loh*, and Jason Y. C. Lim*
ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2023, 9, 10, 5724–5736
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c01103

Delicate Softness in a Temperature-Responsive Porous Crystal for Accelerated Sieving of Propylene/Propane
Yuhang Huang, Jingmeng Wan, Ting Pan, Kai Ge, Yanan Guo, Jingui Duan*, Junfeng Bai, Wanqin Jin, and Susumu Kitagawa*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 44, 24425–24432
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c10277

Read ACS Journal Articles by Richard Robson

Infinite polymeric frameworks consisting of three dimensionally linked rod-like segments
Bernard F. Hoskins and Richard Robson
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 15, 5962–5964
DOI: 10.1021/ja00197a079

Synthesis and x-ray crystal structures of tetranickel and tetrazinc complexes of a macrocyclic tetranucleating ligand
M. Bell, A. J. Edwards, B. F. Hoskins, E. H. Kachab, and Richard Robson
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 10, 3603–3610
DOI: 10.1021/ja00192a018

Design and construction of a new class of scaffolding-like materials comprising infinite polymeric frameworks of 3D-linked molecular rods. A reappraisal of the zinc cyanide and cadmium cyanide structures and the synthesis and structure of the diamond-related frameworks [N(CH₃)₄][Cu^IZn^II(CN)₄] and Cu^I[4,4',4'',4'''-tetracyanotetraphenylmethane]BF₄.xC₆H₅NO₂
B. F. Hoskins and Richard Robson
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 4, 1546–1554
DOI: 10.1021/ja00160a038

Coordination Polymers of 2,5-Dihydroxybenzoquinone and Chloranilic Acid with the (10,3)-a Topology
Brendan F. Abrahams*, Timothy A. Hudson, Laura J. McCormick, Richard Robson*
Cryst. Growth Des. 2011, 11, 7, 2717–2720
DOI: 10.1021/cg2005908

Mixed Valency in a 3D Semiconducting Iron–Fluoranilate Coordination Polymer
Ryuichi Murase, Brendan F. Abrahams*, Deanna M. D’Alessandro*, Casey G. Davies, Timothy A. Hudson, Guy N. L. Jameson, Boujemaa Moubaraki, Keith S. Murray, Richard Robson*, and Ashley L. Sutton
Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 15, 9025–9035
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b01038

Role of NEt₄⁺ in Orienting and Locking Together [M₂lig₃]^2– (6,3) Sheets (H₂lig = Chloranilic or Fluoranilic Acid) to Generate Spacious Channels Perpendicular to the Sheets
Christopher J. Kingsbury, Brendan F. Abrahams*, Deanna M. D’Alessandro, Timothy A. Hudson, Ryuichi Murase, Richard Robson*, Keith F. White
Cryst. Growth Des. 2017, 17, 4, 1465–1470
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.6b01886

Tuning Charge-State Localization in a Semiconductive Iron(III)–Chloranilate Framework Magnet Using a Redox-Active Cation
Martin P. van Koeverden, Brendan F. Abrahams*, Deanna M. D’Alessandro, Patrick W. Doheny, Carol Hua, Timothy A. Hudson, Guy N. L. Jameson, Keith S. Murray, Wasinee Phonsri, Richard Robson, and Ashley L. Sutton
Chem. Mater. 2020, 32, 17, 7551–7563
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c03132

Read ACS Journal Articles by Omar M. Yaghi

Hydrothermal Synthesis of a Metal-Organic Framework Containing Large Rectangular Channels
O. M. Yaghi and Hailian Li
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 41, 10401–10402
DOI: 10.1021/ja00146a033

Synthetic Strategies, Structure Patterns, and Emerging Properties in the Chemistry of Modular Porous Solids
Omar M. Yaghi, Hailian Li, Charles Davis, David Richardson, and Thomas L. Groy
Acc. Chem. Res. 1998, 31, 8, 474–484
DOI: 10.1021/ar970151f

Establishing Microporosity in Open Metal−Organic Frameworks: Gas Sorption Isotherms for Zn(BDC) (BDC = 1,4-Benzenedicarboxylate)
Hailian Li, Mohamed Eddaoudi, Thomas L. Groy, and O. M. Yaghi
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 33, 8571–8572
DOI: 10.1021/ja981669x

Modular Chemistry: Secondary Building Units as a Basis for the Design of Highly Porous and Robust Metal−Organic Carboxylate Frameworks
Mohamed Eddaoudi, David B. Moler, Hailian Li, Banglin Chen, Theresa M. Reineke, Michael O'Keeffe, Omar M. Yaghi
Acc. Chem. Res. 2001, 34, 4, 319–330
DOI: 10.1021/ar000034b

A Flexible Germanate Structure Containing 24-Ring Channels and with Very Low Framework Density
Jacques Plévert, Travis M. Gentz, Aaron Laine, Hailian Li, Victor G. Young, Omar M. Yaghi, and Michael O'Keeffe
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 50, 12706–12707
DOI: 10.1021/ja016996a

Assembly of Metal−Organic Frameworks from Large Organic and Inorganic Secondary Building Units: New Examples and Simplifying Principles for Complex Structures
Jaheon Kim, Banglin Chen, Theresa M. Reineke, Hailian Li, Mohamed Eddaoudi, David B. Moler, Michael O'Keeffe, and Omar M. Yaghi
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 34, 8239–8247
DOI: 10.1021/ja010825o

Tertiary Building Units: Synthesis, Structure, and Porosity of a Metal−Organic Dendrimer Framework (MODF-1)
Hee K. Chae, Mohamed Eddaoudi, Jaheon Kim, Sheila I. Hauck, John F. Hartwig, Michael O'Keeffe, and Omar M. Yaghi
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 46, 11482–11483
DOI: 10.1021/ja011692+

Metal−Organic Frameworks with Exceptionally High Capacity for Storage of Carbon Dioxide at Room Temperature
Andrew R. Millward and Omar M. Yaghi
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 51, 17998–17999
DOI: 10.1021/ja0570032

Selective Nucleation and Growth of Metal−Organic Open Framework Thin Films on Patterned COOH/CF₃-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers on Au(111)
Stephan Hermes, Felicitas Schröder, Rolf Chelmowski, Christof Wöll, and Roland A. Fischer
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 40, 13744–13745
DOI: 10.1021/ja053523l

Exceptional H₂ Saturation Uptake in Microporous Metal−Organic Frameworks
Antek G. Wong-Foy, Adam J. Matzger, and Omar M. Yaghi
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 11, 3494–3495
DOI: 10.1021/ja058213h

Introduction to Metal–Organic Frameworks
Hong-Cai Zhou, Jeffrey R. Long, Omar M. Yaghi
Chem. Rev. 2012, 112, 2, 673–674
DOI: 10.1021/cr300014x

The Reticular Chemist
Omar M. Yaghi
Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 12, 8432–8434
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04327

Three Future Directions for Metal–Organic Frameworks
Laura Gagliardi and Omar M. Yaghi
Chem. Mater. 2023, 35, 15, 5711–5712
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01706

Water-Enhanced Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide in Metal–Organic Frameworks
Oscar Iu-Fan Chen, Cheng-Hsin Liu, Kaiyu Wang, Emilio Borrego-Marin, Haozhe Li, Ali H. Alawadhi, Jorge A. R. Navarro*, and Omar M. Yaghi*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 4, 2835–2844
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c14125

Read Related ACS Journal Articles

Preparation, Clathration Ability, and Catalysis of a Two-Dimensional Square Network Material Composed of Cadmium(II) and 4,4'-Bipyridine
Makoto Fujita, Yoon Jung Kwon, Satoru Washizu, and Katsuyuki Ogura
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 3, 1151–1152
DOI: 10.1021/ja00082a055

Adsorption Dynamics of Gases and Vapors on the Nanoporous Metal Organic Framework Material Ni₂(4,4‘-Bipyridine)₃(NO₃)₄: Guest Modification of Host Sorption Behavior
Ashleigh J. Fletcher, Edmund J. Cussen, Timothy J. Prior, Matthew J. Rosseinsky, Cameron J. Kepert, and K. Mark Thomas
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 41, 10001–10011
DOI: 10.1021/ja0109895

Very Large Breathing Effect in the First Nanoporous Chromium(III)-Based Solids: MIL-53 or Cr^III(OH)·{O₂C−C₆H₄−CO₂}·{HO₂C−C₆H₄−CO₂H}_x·H₂O_y
Christian Serre, Franck Millange, Christelle Thouvenot, Marc Noguès, Gérard Marsolier, Daniel Louër, and Gérard Férey
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 45, 13519–13526
DOI:10.1021/ja0276974

Selective Nucleation and Growth of Metal−Organic Open Framework Thin Films on Patterned COOH/CF₃-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers on Au(111)
Stephan Hermes, Felicitas Schröder, Rolf Chelmowski, Christof Wöll, and Roland A. Fischer
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 40, 13744–13745
DOI: 10.1021/ja053523l

Gas Adsorption and Storage in Metal−Organic Framework MOF-177
Yingwei Li and Ralph T. Yang
Langmuir 2007, 23, 26, 12937–12944
DOI: 10.1021/la702466d

A New Zirconium Inorganic Building Brick Forming Metal Organic Frameworks with Exceptional Stability
Jasmina Hafizovic Cavka, Søren Jakobsen, Unni Olsbye, Nathalie Guillou, Carlo Lamberti, Silvia Bordiga, and Karl Petter Lillerud
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 42, 13850–13851
DOI: 10.1021/ja8057953

Metal–Organic Framework Materials with Ultrahigh Surface Areas: Is the Sky the Limit?
Omar K. Farha*, Ibrahim Eryazici, Nak Cheon Jeong, Brad G. Hauser, Christopher E. Wilmer, Amy A. Sarjeant, Randall Q. Snurr, SonBinh T. Nguyen, A. Özgür Yazaydın*, and Joseph T. Hupp*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 36, 15016–15021
DOI: 10.1021/ja3055639

Inherent Proton Conduction in a 2D Coordination Framework
Daiki Umeyama, Satoshi Horike*, Munehiro Inukai, Tomoya Itakura, and Susumu Kitagawa*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 30, 12780–12785
DOI: 10.1021/ja304693r

MOF Crystal Chemistry Paving the Way to Gas Storage Needs: Aluminum-Based soc-MOF for CH₄, O₂, and CO₂ Storage
Dalal Alezi, Youssef Belmabkhout, Mikhail Suyetin, Prashant M. Bhatt, Łukasz J. Weseliński, Vera Solovyeva, Karim Adil, Ioannis Spanopoulos, Pantelis N. Trikalitis, Abdul-Hamid Emwas, and Mohamed Eddaoudi*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 41, 13308–13318
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b07053

Explore Additional Content from ACS Publications

Headline Science: Upcycling old clothes into a superhydrophobic coating

Researchers have developed a sustainable way to upcycle textile waste by directly incorporating clothing scraps into a synthesis for metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs). Watch the process in action below: