The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipients are announced during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday. The prize was awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks. Photo by Fredrik Sandberg/EPA
Three scientists working in Australia, Japan and the United States won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work in molecular architecture, the Nobel Foundation announced Wednesday.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Susumu Kitagawa of Japan (Kyoto University); Richard Robson of Britain (University of Melbourne, Australia); and Omar M. Yaghi of Jordan (University of California, Berkeley) the prestigious award. It comes with a $1.17 million prize that the three men will split evenly.
The scientists were recognized for developing a new form of molecular architecture with spaces that allow gases and other chemicals to flow through.
Known as metal-organic frameworks, these constructions can be useful in capturing and storing specific substances — such as water from the desert air or carbon dioxide. The structures can also act as catalysts for chemical reactions.
“Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions,” said Heiner Linke, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
A release from the Nobel Foundation said scientists working from Kitawaga, Robson and Yaghi’s groundbreaking discoveries have been able to create tens of thousands of other metal-organic frameworks. These have been used for various purposes, including removing PFAS, or forever chemicals, from water and breakdown trace pharmaceuticals in the environment.
