The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is the most prestigious award given to chemists. Last year it was awarded to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry, which involve simple, quick chemical reactions that can occur within living organisms without disrupting normal biological functions. But you know that many winners of the Nobel Prize have authored ACS eBook chapters?
In anticipation of the 2023 announcements next week, check out these fun facts about the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the laureates’ ties with ACS eBooks.
Nobel Laureates in Chemistry Author ACS eBook Chapters
To date, 189 laureates have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry since the award began in 1901, and more than 40 of them have written one or more chapters in ACS eBooks. Among these authors are 2022 Nobel Prize winners Carolyn R. Bertozzi, who contributed to the books Polymer Biocatalysis and Biomaterials and Polymer Gels, and Morten Meldal, who contributed to Carbohydrate Antigens. Prof. Bertozzi is also the founding and current Editor-in-Chief of ACS Central Science—and one of eight women to have won the prize.
What are some of the most common research fields that win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
Three of the most common research fields include biochemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry.
Recent former Laureates in the biochemistry field include Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel, who were awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems. Karplus has published in the ACS eBooks Computer Modeling of Carbohydrate Molecules, Molecular-Based Study of Fluids, and Water in Polymers. Warshel has contributed to the ACS eBooks Transition State Modeling for Catalysis, Combined Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanical Methods, and Structure and Reactivity in Aqueous Solution.
Organic chemistry is another common research field for Nobel Laureates in Chemistry. Dr. Akira Suzuki, one of the Nobel Laureates in 2010, specializes in this subject area and wrote a chapter in the book Organoboranes for Syntheses.
Finally, another common research field to win the prize is physical chemistry. A shining example is Dr. William E. Moerner, who won in 2014 for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, which made tracking processes occurring inside living cells possible. Moerner is one of the authors of the chapter Applications of Organic Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Materials, which appeared in the ACS eBook Materials for Nonlinear Optics.
Get the Latest ACS eBook Chapter Written by a Nobel Laureate
The chapter Sequence-Controlled Polymers by Ruthenium-Mediated Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization, published in 2014 in the ACS eBook Sequence-Controlled Polymers: Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Properties, is the latest publication from a Nobel Laureate, contributed by 2005 winner Robert H. Grubbs.
Read a Chapter from One Chemistry’s Most Famous Nobel Laureates
Speaking of the most famous and influential Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, one cannot forget Dr. Linus Carl Pauling. He is the only person to win two undivided Nobel Prizes—one in Chemistry in 1954 and the other in Peace eight years later. He published the chapter Herman F. Mark and the Structure of Crystals, which appeared in the book Polymer Science Overview.