We were delighted to learn that the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two scientists of enormous stature: the German Benjamin List (Frankfurt, Germany, 1968) of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research and the US-based Scotsman David MacMillan (Bellshill, UK, 1968) of Princeton University (USA).
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences based its decision on the fact that the two have (independently) developed a third type of catalysis: asymmetric organocatalysis, based on small organic molecules.
