Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson & Omar Yaghi Share the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Three Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Development of Metallic-Organic Frameworks

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for their development of metallic-organic frameworks. The Royal Swedish Academy appreciated the laureates’ contribution to building a novel molecular architecture. 

The academy outlined their achievement by mentioning that, “The constructions they created – metal-organic frameworks – contain large cavities in which molecules can flow in and out. Researchers have used them to harvest water from desert air, extract pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide, and store hydrogen.”

About the New Molecular Architecture

The new form of molecular architecture has large spaces that allow gases and other chemicals to flow through it. Various experiments and projects have expanded the metallic-organic framework's utility. It is now being used to collect water from extremely dry or less humid air. Other use cases of this invention include storing toxic gases, capturing carbon dioxide (CO2), and catalyzing chemical reactions.  

The metal ions in this new molecular architecture act as cornerstones that are attached by organic carbon-based molecules. These metal ions and carbon-based molecules together form crystals that have large cavities. The porous materials thus formed are referred to as metal-organic frameworks (MOF).

Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Heiner Linke, said, “Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions.” 

Who Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024?

In 2024, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists: David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M Jumper for their discoveries in protein science. Baker received the Nobel prize for computational protein design, while Hassabis and Jumper won the prize for protein structure prediction.

Their work has revolutionized protein science by allowing the formation of new proteins with the help of novel functions. They also solved a long-standing challenge of accurately predicting the 3D structures. These structures of complex proteins were derived from their amino acid sequences. The scientists had to develop an AI model called AlphaFold2 to predict the structure of almost all known forms of proteins.

To sum up, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a new type of molecular architecture. This molecular architecture is expected to solve many crucial problems faced by chemists today.