Nobel: Bertozzi, Meldal and Sharples awarded for "snap chemistry"

The Americans

and

and the Dane

equally divide the

for having pioneered the so-called "

", inaugurated about 20 years ago by Sharpless and which consists in the possibility of combining molecules into more efficient and at the same time simpler way.

A technique that, thanks to Bertozzi, has also been applied to biological molecules. 

There are many applications, including those related to green chemistry and high-precision cancer therapies.

The secretary general of the

, Hans Ellegren pointed out how the so-called "click chemistry", "is used in the development of pharmaceutical products, to map DNA and create materials more suitable for the purpose", "Using bioorthogonal reactions, the researchers improved the targeting of anticancer drugs."

"Barry Sharpless and Morten Meldal laid the foundation for a functional form of chemistry - click chemistry - in which molecular blocks come together quickly and efficiently. Carolyn Bertozzi took click chemistry to a new dimension and started. to use it in living organisms, "it was explained.

Chemists, he still remembers, have long been driven by the desire to build "ever more complicated molecules".

"In pharmaceutical research, this has often involved the artificial recreation of natural molecules with medicinal properties, but this has led to" many admirable molecular constructions that generally take time and are very expensive to produce. "

"This year's Chemistry Award is concerned", however, "not to overcomplicate matters, but to work with what is easy and simple. Functional molecules can also be built by following a simple path," he said. Johan Åqvist, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Sharpless will receive his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, after that of 2001, for his work on oxidation reactions activated by chiral catalysis.