Tokyo, Oct. 10 (Jiji Press)–Kenso Soai, co-winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in an interview with Jiji Press on Friday looked back on his research that led to the discovery of the reaction now known as the “Soai reaction.” Soai, 76, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, said that, as a child, he was more interested in living things than in cars or airplanes. He lived in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, through high school. Soai was mainly interested in science subjects during his school years, choosing chemistry as his main field of study, although he also had an interest in history. He was also fascinated by biology, which eventually led him to discover asymmetric autocatalysis, a reaction in which a tiny difference between two mirror-image molecular forms is amplified until one of them predominates. The process came to be known as the Soai reaction. At the University of Tokyo and its graduate school, Soai studied under the late Teruaki Mukaiyama, a leading researcher in organic synthetic chemistry. “(Mukaiyama) was the type who showed things through his own actions rather than just offering advice,” Soai said. “I was influenced by him in every aspect of my research” and through discussions on experiments, the Nobel winner went on. Soai published his first research findings leading to the Soai reaction, which earned him the Nobel Prize, in 1990. He discovered a phenomenon in which a substance produced by a chemical reaction acts as a catalyst to produce more of the same substance. At the time, however, the difference between two mirror-image forms remained small. After repeated trial and error, Soai succeeded in greatly amplifying the difference in 1995 by using a different compound. He published the findings in British scientific journal Nature. He said it was a “great honor” that the reaction came to bear his name. Soai continues to conduct research with the professor who took over his laboratory, and spends his days reading papers related to his studies. “I don’t have any particular interests outside research,” he said. Asked how he plans to use the prize money, Soai said, “I haven’t had a chance to think about that.” Tokyo University of Science has awarded Soai the title of distinguished professor in recognition of his achievements and contributions to education and research. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
