Kenso Soai’s journey to winning the Nobel Prize included time at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Soai, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, was a postdoctoral researcher in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ chemistry department from 1979-81, working under Ernest Eliel, former W.R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Chemistry.

Soai and Henri B. Kagan of the Université of Paris Sud were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 7 for their discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysts in asymmetric organic synthesis, solving a century-old chemical mystery.

“Dr. Soai’s Nobel Prize is an extraordinary recognition of a career defined by discovery and scientific achievement,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “We are proud that part of that journey took place here at Carolina. His time in Chapel Hill is a reminder of the lasting impact of our research community and Carolina’s role in advancing knowledge that can shape the world for generations.”

Some molecules, like amino acids, exist as two variants that are each other’s mirror image. But living organisms only contain one of these mirror images. How this chemical asymmetry could have emerged was long a mystery to chemists.

Kagan took the first decisive step to solving this in 1986, when he discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions. Soai took the next step, designing the first chemical reaction that had potential to be homochiral, after the Greek words for “same” and “hand.” In 2003, he succeeded. Other than life itself, no one had previously achieved this feat.

Soai, a native of Hiroshima, Japan, received his doctorate from the University of Tokyo in 1979 before coming to Carolina. He returned to Japan in 1981 to join the University of Tokyo Science as a lecturer, before later being promoted to full professor.

“We are tremendously proud to celebrate Kenso Soai and the recognition of his achievements with the Nobel Prize in chemistry,” said James F. Cahoon, professor and chair of Carolina’s chemistry department. “Professor Soai spent a formative period as a postdoctoral researcher at UNC chemistry from 1979 to 1981, working with Professor Ernest Eliel, a scholar in modern stereochemistry. It is remarkable to see Professor Soai’s discoveries in asymmetric chemistry connected to that scientific lineage. His achievement is a reminder of the importance of fundamental chemical research and the impact it can have over the span of decades.”

Read more about the prize-winning work on the Nobel Prize website.