Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners: Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Bernard Feringa and Fraser Stoddart
Announcement of Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry
Moscow. October 5. website - The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016 was awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Bernard Feringa and Fraser Stoddart with the wording “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.”
Sauvage is a French chemist specializing in supramolecular chemistry. This is the field of chemistry that studies supramolecular structures - assemblies consisting of two or more molecules held together through intermolecular interactions. Sauvage became the first chemist to synthesize a compound from the class of catenanes. The molecules of these substances consist of two rings linked to each other; This type of connection is called topological, clarifies the site N+1.
Illustration of a stretching and contracting molecular loop structure
Fraser Stoddart, a Scottish scientist now working in the USA, expanded the list of compounds with similar “non-chemical” bonds by synthesizing rotaxane. Rotaxane molecules consist of a long chain on which a ring is loosely attached. Thanks to two large structures at the ends of the chain, the ring cannot “fall off” from it.
A molecular transfer created by Stoddart that can move under control along the axis
Bernard Feringa, a specialist in the field of molecular nanotechnology and homogeneous catalysis, became the first chemist to develop and synthesize a molecular motor - a molecule that, under the influence of light, underwent structural changes and began to rotate like a windmill blade in a strictly specified direction. In 1999, using molecular motors, a scientist managed to make a glass cylinder 10 thousand times larger than the size of the motors rotate.
An example of a molecular machine with four "wheels"
In 2015, the Nobel Prize winners in the same category were the Swede Thomas Lindahl, who works in the UK, and the American Paul Modrich and the Turkish-born scientist Aziz Sancar, who conducts research in the United States. The award was awarded to them for their research into the mechanisms of DNA repair - a special function of cells that consists in the ability to correct chemical damage and breaks in DNA molecules that occur during normal biosynthesis or as a result of exposure to physical or chemical agents.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 was awarded to Americans Eric Betzig and William Moner and German Stefan Hell for their contributions to the development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.
Earlier this week, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine (received by the Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi) and the Nobel Prize in Physics (the winners were David Thoules, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz for their work in topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter) became known.
The only Russian Nobel laureate in chemistry to date was Nikolai Semenov (1896-1986) in 1956, together with the Englishman Cyril Hinshelwood, for his research into the mechanism of chemical reactions.
The next Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced on Friday, October 7.
Nobel Prize laureates in 2016 will receive 8 million Swedish kronor (about $931 thousand). The award ceremony will traditionally take place in Stockholm on December 10, the day of the death of the founder of the Nobel Prizes, Swedish entrepreneur and inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).
Three scientists received an award for revolutionary discoveries
On Wednesday, October 5 in Stockholm, representatives of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the decision to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2016. The laureates were three scientists from different countries: the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage from the University of Strasbourg, the Scottish native Sir J. Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University (Illinois, USA) and Bernard L. Feringa from the University of Groningen (Netherlands).
The wording of the award is: “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.” This year's honorees have contributed to the miniaturization of technology that could be revolutionary. Sauvage, Stoddart and Feringa not only miniaturized machines, but also gave chemistry a new dimension.
According to a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Professor Jean-Pierre Sauvage took the first step towards a molecular machine in 1983 when he successfully linked two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain known as a catenane. Molecules are normally held together by strong covalent bonds in which the atoms share electrons, but in this chain they are joined by a looser mechanical bond. For a machine to perform a task, it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other. Two connected rings fully meet this requirement.
The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991 when he developed rotaxane (a type of molecular structure). He threaded a molecular ring into a thin molecular axis and showed that this ring could move along the axis. Rotaxanes are the basis for such developments as the molecular elevator, the molecular muscle, and the molecule-based computer chip.
And Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor. In 1999, he obtained a molecular rotor blade that constantly rotates in one direction. Using molecular motors, he rotated a glass cylinder that was 10 thousand times larger than the motor, and the scientist also developed a nanocar.
It is interesting that the 2016 laureates did not particularly “shine” in the various lists of favorites that appear every year on the eve of “Nobel week”.
Among those to whom the mass media predicted a prize in chemistry this year are, for example, George M. Church and Feng Zhang (both working in the USA) for the use of CRISPR-cas9 genome editing in human and mouse cells.
Also on the list of favorites was Hong Kong scientist Dennis Lo (Dennis Lo Yukming) for his discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in mainland plasma, which revolutionized non-invasive prenatal testing.
The names of Japanese scientists were also mentioned - Hiroshi Maeda and Yasuhiro Matsamura (for the discovery of the effect of increased permeability and retention of macromolecular drugs, which is a key discovery for the treatment of cancer).
In some sources one could find the name of the chemist Alexander Spokoiny, who was born in Moscow, but after his family moved to America, he lived and worked in the USA. He is called the "rising star of chemistry." By the way, the only Soviet Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry was academician Nikolai Semenov in 1956 - for developing the theory of chain reactions. Most of the recipients of this prize are scientists from the United States. German scientists are in second place, British scientists are in third place.
The Chemistry Prize may well be called “the most Nobel of Nobels.” After all, the man who founded this award, Alfred Nobel, was precisely a chemist, and in the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, nobelium is located next to mendelevium.
The decision to award this award is made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. From 1901 (then the first recipient in the field of chemistry was the Dutchman Jacob Hendrik van't Hoff) to 2015, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded 107 times. Unlike similar awards in the field of physics or medicine, it was more often awarded to one laureate (in 63 cases), rather than to several at once. However, only four women became laureates in chemistry - among them Marie Curie, who also had the Nobel Prize in Physics, and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie. The only person to receive a chemical Nobel twice was Frederick Sanger (1958 and 1980).
The youngest recipient was 35-year-old Frédéric Joliot, who received the prize in 1935. And the oldest was John B. Fenn, who was awarded the Nobel Prize at the age of 85.
Last year, Thomas Lindahl (Great Britain) and two scientists from the USA, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar (a native of Turkey), became Nobel laureates in chemistry. The award was given to them for “mechanical studies of DNA repair.”
noted
Laureates: Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage from the University of Strasbourg, Scottish native Sir J. Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University (Illinois, USA) and Bernard L. Feringa . Feringa) from the University of Groningen (Netherlands).
source: pbs.twimg.com
The wording of the award is: “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.” This year's honorees have contributed to the miniaturization of technology that could be revolutionary. Sauvage, Stoddart and Feringa not only miniaturized machines, but also gave chemistry a new dimension.
Scientists have created molecular mechanisms that can make directed movements and thereby act like real machines. They can be used primarily in various sensors, as well as in medicine.
According to a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Professor Jean-Pierre Sauvage took the first step towards a molecular machine in 1983 when he successfully linked two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain known as a catenane. Molecules are normally held together by strong covalent bonds in which the atoms share electrons, but in this chain they are joined by a looser mechanical bond. For a machine to perform a task, it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other. Two connected rings fully meet this requirement.
The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991 when he developed rotaxane (a type of molecular structure). He threaded a molecular ring into a thin molecular axis and showed that this ring could move along the axis. Rotaxanes are the basis for such developments as the molecular elevator, the molecular muscle, and the molecule-based computer chip.
And Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor. In 1999, he obtained a molecular rotor blade that constantly rotates in one direction. Using molecular motors, he rotated a glass cylinder that was 10 thousand times larger than the motor, and the scientist also developed a nanocar.
It is interesting that the 2016 laureates did not particularly “shine” in the various lists of favorites that appear every year on the eve of “Nobel week”.
Among those to whom the mass media predicted a prize in chemistry this year are, for example, George M. Church and Feng Zhang (both working in the USA) for the use of CRISPR-cas9 genome editing in human and mouse cells.
Also on the list of favorites was Hong Kong scientist Dennis Lo (Dennis Lo Yukming) for his discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in mainland plasma, which revolutionized non-invasive prenatal testing.
The names of Japanese scientists were also mentioned - Hiroshi Maeda and Yasuhiro Matsamura (for the discovery of the effect of increased permeability and retention of macromolecular drugs, which is a key discovery for the treatment of cancer).
In some sources one could find the name of the chemist Alexander Spokoiny, who was born in Moscow, but after his family moved to America, he lived and worked in the USA. He is called the "rising star of chemistry." By the way, the only Soviet Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry was academician Nikolai Semenov in 1956 - for developing the theory of chain reactions. Most of the recipients of this prize are scientists from the United States. German scientists are in second place, British scientists are in third place.
The Chemistry Prize may well be called “the most Nobel of Nobels.” After all, the man who founded this award, Alfred Nobel, was precisely a chemist, and in the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, nobelium is located next to mendelevium.
The decision to award this award is made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. From 1901 (then the first recipient in the field of chemistry was the Dutchman Jacob Hendrik van't Hoff) to 2015, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded 107 times. Unlike similar awards in the field of physics or medicine, it was more often awarded to one laureate (in 63 cases), rather than to several at once. However, only four women became laureates in chemistry - among them Marie Curie, who also had the Nobel Prize in Physics, and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie. The only person to receive a chemical Nobel twice was Frederick Sanger (1958 and 1980).
The youngest recipient was 35-year-old Frédéric Joliot, who received the prize in 1935. And the oldest was John B. Fenn, who was awarded the Nobel Prize at the age of 85.
Last year, Thomas Lindahl (Great Britain) and two scientists from the USA, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar (a native of Turkey), became Nobel laureates in chemistry. The award was given to them for “mechanical studies of DNA repair.”
The annual ceremony to announce the laureates took place in Stockholm. Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
On October 5, 2016, the names of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2016 were announced. They became the French Jean-Pierre Souvage(Jean-Pierre Sauvage), American of Scottish descent James Fraser Stoddart(Fraser Stoddart) and Dutchman Bernard Feringa(Bernard Feringa).
Prize wording: “ For the design and synthesis of molecular machines«.
Molecular machines are devices that manipulate single atoms and molecules. They can transfer them from one place to another, bring them closer so that a chemical bond is formed between them, or pull them apart so that the chemical bond breaks. The size of a molecular machine cannot be too large. It is usually on the order of several nanometers.
Among the promising areas of application Such machines are used for molecular surgery, targeted delivery of drugs (for example, deep into a cancer tumor, where conventional drugs almost do not penetrate), correction of disordered biochemical functions of the body.
As stated in a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the first step towards a molecular machine, Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage did in 1983 when he successfully linked two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain known as catenane. Typically, molecules are connected by strong covalent bonds in which the atoms share electrons, but in this chain they are connected by a looser mechanical bond. For a machine to perform a task, it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other. Two connected rings fully meet this requirement.
The second step was taken Fraser Stoddart in 1991 when he developed rotaxane (a type of molecular structure). He threaded a molecular ring into a thin molecular axis and showed that this ring could move along the axis. Rotaxanes are the basis for such developments as the molecular elevator, the molecular muscle, and the molecule-based computer chip.
A Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor. In 1999, he obtained a molecular rotor blade that constantly rotates in one direction. Using molecular motors, he rotated a glass cylinder that was 10 thousand times larger than the motor, and the scientist also developed a nanocar.
The 2016 laureates will share equally among themselves the cash portion of the prize in the amount of 8 million Swedish kronor (approximately $933.6 thousand).
First Nobel Prize in Chemistry received in 1901 Jacob Hendrik van't Hoff in recognition of the enormous importance of the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions. From then until 2015, 172 people became its laureates, 4 of them women.
Most often, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for work in the field biochemistry(50 times), organic chemistry(43 times) and physical chemistry(38 times).
2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry received a Swede Thomas Lindahl, American Paul Modrich and Turkish native Aziz Sancar “for mechanistic studies of DNA repair,” showing at the molecular level how cells repair damaged DNA and preserve genetic information.
