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北京时间2021年10月6日17时55分（斯德哥尔摩时间2021年10月6日 11时 55分），2021年诺贝尔化学奖获奖名单公布，获奖者为：Benjamin List 和 David W.C. MacMillan. 他们因在不对称有机催化领域的研究受到表彰
获奖者简介
Benjamin List
2021年诺贝尔化学奖获得者
简  介
Benjamin List是德国化学家，1968年出生于德国法兰克福，1997年获得法兰克福大学博士学位，现任马克斯普朗克学会科学会员、科隆大学名誉教授。
David W.C. MacMillan
2021年诺贝尔化学奖获得者
简  介
David W.C. MacMillan 是美国有机化学家，1968年生于苏格兰，在格拉斯哥大学获得化学学士学位，1996 年在加州大学尔湾分校获得博士学位。现任美国普林斯顿大学教授。
获奖成果
Many research areas and industries are dependent on chemists’ ability to construct molecules that can form elastic and durable materials, store energy in batteries or inhibit the progression of diseases. This work requires catalysts, which are substances that control and accelerate chemical reactions, without becoming part of the final product. For example, catalysts in cars transform toxic substances in exhaust fumes to harmless molecules. Our bodies also contain thousands of catalysts in the form of enzymes, which chisel out the molecules necessary for life.
Catalysts are thus fundamental tools for chemists, but researchers long believed that there were, in principle, just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes. Benjamin List and David MacMillan are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 because in 2000 they, independent of each other, developed a third type of catalysis. It is called asymmetric organocatalysis and builds upon small organic molecules.
“This concept for catalysis is as simple as it is ingenious, and the fact is that many people have wondered why we didn’t think of it earlier,” says Johan Åqvist, who is chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
Organic catalysts have a stable framework of carbon atoms, to which more active chemical groups can attach. These often contain common elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur or phosphorus. This means that these catalysts are both environmentally friendly and cheap to produce.
The rapid expansion in the use of organic catalysts is primarily due to their ability to drive asymmetric catalysis. When molecules are being built, situations often occur where two different molecules can form, which – just like our hands – are each other’s mirror image. Chemists will often only want one of these, particularly when producing pharmaceuticals.
Organocatalysis has developed at an astounding speed since 2000. Benjamin List and David MacMillan remain leaders in the field, and have shown that organic catalysts can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions. Using these reactions, researchers can now more efficiently construct anything from new pharmaceuticals to molecules that can capture light in solar cells. In this way, organocatalysts are bringing the greatest benefit to humankind.
诺贝尔化学奖旨在奖励那些对人类化学领域里作出突出贡献的科学家。诺贝尔化学奖每年评选和颁发一次，由瑞典皇家科学院颁发一枚金牌、一份证书以及一笔奖金。截至2020年，已经有185人获得诺贝尔化学奖。
诺贝尔奖是以瑞典著名化学家、硝化甘油炸药发明人阿尔弗雷德·贝恩哈德·诺贝尔的部分遗产作为基金创立的，诺贝尔奖包括金质奖章、证书和奖金支票。在遗嘱中他提出，将部分遗产（920万美元）作为基金，以其利息分设物理、化学、生理或医学、文学及和平（后添加了‘经济’奖）5种奖金，授予世界各国在这些领域对人类做出重大贡献的学者。
2020年10月7日，2020年诺贝尔化学奖获奖名单公布，获奖者为法国生物化学家Emmanuelle Charpentier和美国生物化学家Jennifer Doudna，以表彰其在基因编辑方面做出的杰出贡献。

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