The research of Liszt and Macmillan will significantly simplify the synthesis of complex molecules, and this, in particular, will help to create new drugs.

The developments of Nobel laureates Benjamin List from Germany and David McMillan from the USA can reduce the cost of production of many medicines and dietary supplements, as well as make them safer, scientists interviewed by RBC explained.

List and Macmillan received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2021 "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis". Peter Brzezinski, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, secretary of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, told RBC that the method of asymmetric organocatalysis is of great importance for the development of science. "This is a completely new methodology that is universal and environmentally friendly. It allows scientists to create the molecules needed for pharmaceuticals. The advantage is that it is possible to produce the desired molecules with a much smaller number of steps than before," Brzezinski said.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, specialist in bioorganic chemistry, molecular biology and biotechnology Valentin Vlasov explained that the study of Liszt and Macmillan can significantly simplify the synthesis of molecules. "The fact is that the molecules are asymmetric — they are not round like a ball, they are curved, they can be bent in any direction. And chemically they are very difficult to synthesize. <...> If we use the method that Liszt and Macmillan developed, the synthesis is simplified," he pointed out.

The developments of new laureates will make it possible to obtain cleaner substances. "This is illustrated by such a medicine as thalidomide, from which children with developmental abnormalities were born. This is due to the fact that the synthesis resulted in a mixture of isomers. The drug turned out to be harmful due to the fact that there were incorrect isomers among them. The method of Liszt and Macmillan will help to avoid this," the scientist said.

Candidate of Chemical Sciences Denis Zhilin also pointed out that in chemistry there is such a problem as asymmetric synthesis. "There are a number of molecules, in particular organic ones, that do not coincide with their own mirror image. Such molecules are called asymmetric. If we take a molecule and its mirror image, called a mirror isomer, we will see that they have exactly the same chemical properties. <...> But very often the biological properties of mirror isomers may differ. Roughly speaking, one is poison, the other is medicine," the researcher gave an example.

It is quite difficult to remove an unnecessary isomer. Specialists have been working on solving the problem of asymmetric synthesis for many years. "It is the method of asymmetric organocatalysis that makes it possible to synthesize one mirror isomer out of two. People have been struggling with the issue of asymmetric synthesis of one of the two mirror isomers for about a hundred years, this is one of the key directions," Zhilin summed up.

The Nobel Committee informed in the justification of the award that for a long time it was considered possible to use only metals and enzymes as catalysts, but about 20 years ago List and Macmillan independently developed a third type of catalysis — using a framework of carbon atoms, to which atoms of active elements, including oxygen, sulfur or phosphorus, can be attached. Such catalysts are harmless to the environment and cheap to produce.

"This concept of catalysis is as simple as it is ingenious," said Johan Aquist, chairman of the Nobel Chemistry Committee.