Nobel Prizes in Chemistry

1901

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (Netherlands, 1852-08-30 - 1911-03-01)

Discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and of the osmotic pressure in solutions

1902

Emil H. Fischer (Germany, 1852-10-09 - 1919-07-15)

Synthetic studies in the area of sugar and purine groups

1903

Svante A. Arrhenius (Sweden, 1859-02-19 - 1927-10-02)

Theory of electrolytic dissociation

1904

Sir William Ramsay (United Kingdom, 1852-10-02 - 1916-07-23)

Discovery of the indifferent gaseous elements in air (noble gases)

1905

Adolf von Baeyer (Germany, 1835-10-31 - 1917-08-20)

Organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds

1906

Henri Moissan (France, 1852-09-28 - 1907-02-20)

Investigation and isolation of the element fluorine

1907

Eduard Buchner (Germany, 1860-05-20 - 1917-08-13)

Biochemical studies, discovery of fermentation without cells

1908

Sir Ernest Rutherford (United Kingdom, 1871-08-30 - 1937-10-19)

Decay of the elements, chemistry of radioactive substances

1909

Wilhelm Ostwald (Germany, 1853-09-02 - 1932-04-04)

Catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction rates

1910

Otto Wallach (Germany, 1847-03-27 - 1931-02-26)

Alicyclic compounds

1911

Marie Curie (France, Poland, 1867-11-07 - 1934-07-04)

Discovery of radium and polonium

1912

Victor Grignard (France, 1871-05-16 - 1935-12-13)

Grignard's reagent

Paul Sabatier (France, 1854-11-05 - 1941-08-14)

Hydrogenation of organic compounds in the presence of finely divided metals

1913

Alfred Werner (Switzerland, 1866-12-12 - 1919-11-15)

Bonding relations of atoms in molecules (inorganic chemistry)

1914

Theodore W. Richards (USA, 1868-01-31 - 1928-04-02)

Determination of atomic weights

1915

Richard Willstätter (Germany, 1872-08-13 - 1942-08-03)

Investigation of plant pigments, particularly of chlorophyll

1916 -

1917 -

1918

Fritz Haber (Germany, 1868-12-09 - 1934-01-29)

Synthesis of ammonia from its elements

1919 -

1920

Walther H. Nernst (Germany, 1864-06-25 - 1941-11-18)

Studies on thermodynamics

1921

Frederick Soddy (United Kingdom, 1877-09-02 - 1956-09-22)

Chemistry of radioactive substances, occurrence and nature of the isotopes

1922

Francis W. Aston (United Kingdom, 1877-09-01 - 1945-11-20)

Discovery of a large number of isotopes, mass spectrograph

1923

Fritz Pregl (Austria, 1869-09-03 - 1930-12-13)

Microanalysis of organic compounds

1924 -

1925

Richard A. Zsigmondy (Germany, Austria, 1865-04-01 - 1929-09-29)

Colloid chemistry (ultramicroscope)

1926

Theodor Svedberg (Sweden, 1884-08-30 - 1971-02-26)

Disperse systems (ultracentrifuge)

1927

Heinrich O. Wieland (Germany, 1877-06-04 - 1957-08-05)

Constitution of bile acids

1928

Adolf Windaus (Germany, 1876-12-25 - 1959-06-09)

Study of sterols and their relation with vitamins (vitamin D)

1929

Hans von Euler-Chelpin (Sweden, Germany, 1873-02-15 - 1964-11-06)

Arthur Harden (United Kingdom, 1861-10-12 - 1940-06-17)

Studies on fermentation of sugars and enzymes

1930

Hans Fischer (Germany, 1881-07-27 - 1945-03-31)

Studies on blood and plant pigments, synthesis of hemin

1931

Friedrich Bergius (Germany, 1884-10-11 - 1949-03-30)

Carl Bosch (Germany, 1874-08-27 - 1940-04-26)

Development of chemical high-pressure processes

1932

Irving Langmuir (USA, 1881-01-31 - 1957-08-16)

Surface chemistry

1933 -

1934

Harold C. Urey (USA, 1893-04-29 - 1981-01-06)

Discovery of heavy hydrogen (deuterium)

1935

Frédéric Joliot (France, 1900-03-19 - 1958-08-14)

Irène Joliot-Curie (France, 1897-09-12 - 1956-03-17)

Syntheses of new radioactive elements (artificial radioactivity)

1936

Peter J. W. Debye (Germany, Netherlands, 1884-03-24 - 1966-11-02)

Studies on dipole moments and the diffraction of X rays and electron beams by gases

1937

Sir Walter N. Haworth (United Kingdom, 1883-03-19 - 1950-03-19)

Studies on carbohydrates and vitamin C

Paul Karrer (Switzerland, 1889-04-21 - 1971-06-18)

Studies on carotenoids and flavins and vitamins A and B2

1938

Richard Kuhn (Germany, 1900-12-03 - 1967-07-31)

Studies on carotenoids and vitamins

1939

Adolf F. J. Butenandt (Germany, 1903-03-24 - 1995-01-18)

Studies on sexual hormones

Leopold Ruzicka (Switzerland, 1887-09-13 - 1976-09-26)

Studies on polymethylenes and higher terpenes

1940 -

1941 -

1942 -

1943

George de Hevesy (Hungary, 1885-08-01 - 1966-07-05)

Application of isotopes as indicators in the investigation chemical processes

1944

Otto Hahn (Germany, 1879-03-08 - 1968-07-28)

Discovery of the nuclear fission of atoms

1945

Artturi I. Virtanen (Finland, 1895-01-15 - 1973-11-11)

Discoveries in the area of agricultural and food chemistry, method of preservation of fodder

1946

John H. Northrop (USA, 1891-07-05 - 1987-05-27)

Wendell M. Stanley (USA, 1904-08-16 - 1971-06-15)

Preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in pure form

James B. Sumner (USA, 1887-11-19 - 1955-08-12)

Crystallizability of enzymes

1947

Sir Robert Robinson (United Kingdom, 1886-09-13 - 1975-02-08)

Studies on alkaloids

1948

Arne W. K. Tiselius (Sweden, 1902-08-10 - 1971-10-29)

Analysis by means of electrophoresis and adsorption, discoveries about serum proteins

1949

William F. Giauque (USA, 1895-05-12 - 1982-03-28)

Contributions to chemical thermodynamics, properties at extremely low temperatures (adiabatic demagnetization)

1950

Kurt Alder (Germany, 1902-07-10 - 1958-06-20)

Otto P. H. Diels (Germany, 1876-01-23 - 1954-03-07)

Development of the diene synthesis

1951

Edwin M. McMillan (USA, *1907-09-18)

Glenn Th. Seaborg (USA, 1912-04-19 - 1999-02-25)

Discoveries in the chemistry of transuranium elements

1952

Archer J. P. Martin (United Kingdom, *1910-03-01)

Richard L. M. Synge (United Kingdom, 1914-10-28 - 1994-08-18)

Invention of distribution chromatography

1953

Hermann Staudinger (Germany, 1881-03-23 - 1965-09-08)

Discoveries in the area of macromolecular chemistry

1954

Linus Carl Pauling (USA, 1901-02-28 - 1994-08-19)

Studies on the nature of the chemical bond (molecular structure of proteins)

1955

Vincent du Vigneaud (USA, 1901-05-18 - 1978-12-11)

Synthesis of a polypeptide hormone

1956

Sir Cyril N. Hinshelwood (United Kingdom, 1897-06-19 - 1967-10-09)

Nikolai N. Semjonow (Soviet Union, 1896-04-15 - 1986-09-25)

Mechanisms of chemical reactions

1957

Sir Alexander R. Todd (United Kingdom, *1907-07-02)

Studies on nucleotides and their coenzymes

1958

Frederick Sanger (United Kingdom, *1918-08-13)

Structure of proteins, especially of insulin

1959

Jaroslav Heyrovský (Czechoslovakia, 1890-12-20 - 1967-03-27)

Polarography

1960

Willard F. Libby (USA, 1908-12-17 - 1980-09-08)

Application of carbon 14 for age determinations (radiocarbon dating)

1961

Melvin Calvin (USA, *1911-04-07)

Studies on the assimilation of carbonic acid by plants (photosynthesis)

1962

John Cowdery Kendrew (United Kingdom, *1917-03-24)

Max Ferdinand Perutz (United Kingdom, Austria, 1914-05-19 - 2002-02-06)

Studies on the structures of globulin proteins

1963

Giulio Natta (Italy, 1903-02-26 - 1979-05-02)

Karl Ziegler (Germany, 1898-11-26 - 1973-08-11)

Chemistry and technology of high polymers

1964

Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin (United Kingdom, *1910-05-12)

Structure determination of biologically important substances by means of X rays

1965

Robert Burns Woodward (USA, 1917-04-10 - 1979-07-08)

Syntheses of natural products

1966

Robert S. Mulliken (USA, 1896-06-07 - 1986-10-31)

Studies on chemical bonds and the electron structure of molecules by means of the orbital method

1967

Manfred Eigen (Germany, *1927-05-09)

George Porter (United Kingdom, *1920-12-06)

Ronald G. W. Norrish (United Kingdom, 1897-11-09 - 1978-06-07)

Investigations of extremely fast chemical reactions

1968

Lars Onsager (USA, Norway, 1903-11-27 - 1976-10-05)

Studies on the thermodynamics of irreversible processes

1969

Odd Hassel (Norway, 1897-05-17 - 1981-05-13)

Derek H. Barton (United Kingdom, *1918-09-08)

Development of the concept of conformation

1970

Luis F. Leloir (Argentina, *1906-09-06)

Discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates

1971

Gerhard Herzberg (Canada, 1904-12-25 - 1999-03-03)

Electron structure and geometry of molecules, particularly of free radicals (molecular spectroscopy)

1972

Christian B. Anfinsen (USA, *1916-03-26)

Studies on ribonuclease

Stanford Moore (USA, 1913-09-04 - 1982-08-23)

William H. Stein (USA, 1911-06-25 - 1980-02-02)

Studies on the active center of ribonuclease

1973

Ernst Otto Fischer (Germany, *1918-11-10)

Geoffrey Wilkinson (United Kingdom, 1921-07-14 - 1996-09-26)

Chemistry of metal-organic sandwich compounds

1974

Paul J. Flory (USA, 1910-06-19 - 1985-09-09)

Physical chemistry of macromolecules

1975

John W. Cornforth (United Kingdom, *1917-09-07)

Stereochemistry of enzyme catalysis reactions

Vladimir Prelog (Switzerland, Yugoslavia, 1906-07-23 - 1998-01-07)

Studies on the stereochemistry of organic molecules and reactions

1976

William N. Lipscomb (USA, *1919-12-09)

Structure of boranes

1977

Ilya Prigogine (Belgium, 1917-01-25 - 2003-05-28)

Contributions to the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, particularly to the theory of dissipative structures

1978

Peter D. Mitchell (United Kingdom, *1920-09-29)

Studies of biological energy transfer, development of the chemiosmotic theory

1979

Georg Wittig (Germany, 1897-06-16 - 1987-08-26)

Herbert C. Brown (USA, 1912-05-22 - 2004-12-19)

Development of (organic) boron and phosphorous compounds

1980

Paul Berg (USA, *1926-06-30)

Studies on the biochemistry of nucleic acids, particularly hybrid DNA (technology of gene surgery)

Walter Gilbert (USA, *1932-03-21)

Frederick Sanger (United Kingdom, 1918-08-13)

Determination of base sequences in nucleic acids

1981

Kenichi Fukui (Japan, *1918-10-04)

Roald Hoffmann (USA, *1937-07-18)

Theories on the progress of chemical reactions (frontier orbital theory)

1982

Aaron Klug (United Kingdom, *1926-08-11)

Development of crystallographic methods for the elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid protein complexes

1983

Henry Taube (Canada, *1915-11-30)

Reaction mechanisms of electron transfer, especially with metal complexes

1984

Robert Bruce Merrifield (USA, 1921-07-15 - 2006-05-14)

Method for the preparation of peptides and proteins

1985

Herbert A. Hauptman (USA, *1917-02-14)

Jerome Karle (USA, *1918-06-18)

Development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures

1986

John C. Polanyi (Canada, *1929-01-23)

Dudley R. Herschbach (USA, *1932-06-18)

Yuan Tseh Lee (USA, *1936-11-29)

Dynamics of chemical elementary processes

1987

Donald J. Cram (USA, 1919-04-22 - 2001-06-27)

Charles J. Pedersen (USA, 1904-10-03 - 1989-10-26)

Jean-Marie Lehn (France, *1939-09-30)

Development of molecules with structurally specific interaction of high selectivity

1988

Johann Deisenhofer (Germany, *1943-09-30)

Robert Huber (Germany, *1937-02-20)

Hartmut Michel (Germany, *1948-07-18)

Determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center

1989

Sidney Altman (Canada, *1939-05-08)

Thomas Robert Cech (USA, *1947-12-08)

Discovery of the catalytic properties of ribonucleic acid (RNA)

1990

Elias James Corey (USA, *1928-07-12)

Development of novel methods for the synthesis of complex natural compounds (retrosynthetic analysis)

1991

Richard Robert Ernst (Switzerland, *1933-08-14)

Development of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR)

1992

Rudolph A. Marcus (USA, *1923)

Theories of electron transfer

1993

Kary Banks Mullis (USA, *1944)

Invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Michael Smith (Canada, *1932)

Development of site specific mutagenesis

1994

George A. Olah (USA, *1927)

Carbocations

1995

Paul Crutzen (Netherlands, *1933)

Mario Molina (Mexico, *1943)

Frank Sherwood Rowland (USA, *1927)

for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone

1996

Robert F. Curl, Jr. (USA, *1933)

Sir Harold W. Kroto (United Kingdom, *1939)

Richard E. Smalley (USA, *1943)

for their discovery of fullerenes

1997

Paul D. Boyer (USA, *1918)

John E. Walker (United Kingdom, *1941)

for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Jens C. Skou (Denmark, *1918)

for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase

1998

Walter Kohn (USA, *1923)

John A. Pople (United Kingdom/USA, 1925 - 2004)

to Walter Kohn for his development of the density-functional theory and to John Pople for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry (GAUSSIAN computer programs)

1999

Ahmed H. Zewail (USA, Egypt, *1946)

for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy

2000

Alan J. Heeger (USA, *1936)

Alan G. MacDiarmid (USA, *1927)

Hideki Shirakawa (Japan, *1936)

for the discovery and development of conductive polymers

2001

William S. Knowles (USA, *1917)

Ryoji Noyori (Japan, *1938)

for their work on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions

K. Barry Sharpless (USA, *1941)

for his work on chirally catalysed oxidation reactions

2002

John B. Fenn (USA, *1917)

Koichi Tanaka (Japan, *1959)

for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules

Kurt Wüthrich (Switzerland, *1938)

for his development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution

2003

Peter Agre (USA, *1949)

for the discovery of water channels in cell membranes

Roderick MacKinnon (USA, *1956)

for structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels in cell membranes

2004

Aaron Ciechanover (Israel, *1947)

Avram Hershko (Israel, *1937)

Irwin Rose (USA, *1926)

for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation

2005

Yves Chauvin (France, *1930)

Robert H. Grubbs (USA, *1942)

Richard R. Schrock (USA, *1945)

for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis

2006

Roger D. Kornberg (USA, *1947)

for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription

2007

Gerhard Ertl (Germany, *1936)

(Fritz-Haber-Institut of Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Berlin, Honorary Professor at Freie Universität Berlin and at Technische Universität Berlin)

for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces (catalysis)

2008

Osamu Shimomura (USA, *1928)

Martin Chalfie (USA, *1947)

Roger Y. Tsien (USA, *1952)

for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP