Chemistry Nobel Prize for Ertl Lecture Awardee Omar Yaghi
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to the three researchers Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal–organic frameworks.” The institute extends its warmest congratulations to all three! We are particularly delighted about the success of Omar M. Yaghi, who received the Gerhard Ertl Lecture Award in 2021.
Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi have pioneered a novel and incredibly versatile form of molecular architecture: Scaffolds made of molecules with large cavities through which gases and other chemicals can flow. These constructions – metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) – can be used, for example, as building blocks of larger molecular scaffolds or as containers. In MOFs, metal ions act as nodes linked by long organic molecules. By varying the metals and building blocks used in MOFs, chemists can tailor them for specific applications. Researchers have already applied them to extract water from air, remove pollutants from water, capture carbon dioxide, and store hydrogen.
“Metal–organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions,” says Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
We are particularly delighted that this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Omar M. Yaghi, who received the Ertl Lecture Award in 2021 and with whom the institute managing director Beatriz Roldan was fortunate to celebrate the Nobel award at the Solvay Conference in Brussels. Prof. Yaghi shared with Roldan that he was in fact on the plane on the way to this prestigious conference when he received the Nobel committee call.
The is an American-Palestinian-Jordanian chemistchemist, Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the world's leading scientists in the field of ultra-porous materials consisting of organic frameworks, known as COFs (covalent organic frameworks) and MOFs (metal organic frameworks). To synthesize such frameworks, Yaghi spearheaded the concept of reticular chemistry, a new field of chemistry concerned with "stitching molecular building blocks together by strong bonds", as he describes it. Thanks to this new synthesis method, researchers worldwide have been able to produce an impressive number of new porous materials based on COFs and MOFs. But that’s not all. Yaghi's research group is also following up on this groundbreaking invention of material and synthesis with promising applications: For example, his team harvested water from Arizona’s desert air. Overnight their MOF trapped water vapor, and the morning sunlight heated up the material making it release the water for collection.
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry impressively demonstrates how multifaceted chemistry can be. Small, inconspicuous new materials enable a variety of fantastic new materials and reactions with marvelous applications. The versatile uses of COFs and MOFs are also particularly important for the development of sustainable, green chemistry. We look forward to the future developments of the fascinating porous materials developed by the three 2025 Nobel Prize Laureates Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi.
