化学家昂利·卡冈（Henri Kagan）与硎合宪三（Kensō Soai）因破解自然界化学不对称性的奥秘而荣获化学奖。手性分子如同左右手互为镜像，生物体内普遍仅存在其中一种形式（同手性）。然而，在药物开发中，两种镜像异构物可能具有截然不同的药理反应，其中一种甚至可能产生有害副作用，因此精确控制合成出特定单一手性分子一直是科学界的重大挑战。

早期的合成尝试往往产生对等数量的两种镜像分子，直到马克瓦尔德（Willy Marckwald）引入手性催化剂才获得微弱的不对称性，而法兰克（Charles Frank）则在1953年提出了透过自催化和放大机制实现同手性的理论模型。卡冈在1980年代对此展开深入研究，发现金属催化剂与不同镜像异构物结合产生的非对称组合会减缓反应速度，进而放大产物比例，此一现象被称为「非线性效应」，开创了操控化学反应的新途径。

受卡冈研究的启发，硎合宪三致力于实现自催化反应，使产物本身作为催化剂来复制自身。他利用5-嘧啶基烷醇进行实验，成功将微小的初始手性优势大幅放大；最终在2003年，他达成从完全无手性定向的起始物出发，仅凭偶然产生的微量差异，透过自催化放大使单一镜像异构物纯度高达99.99%，完美在实验室重现了自然生命独有的同手性现象。

Chemists Henri Kagan and Kensō Soai were awarded the chemistry prize for deciphering the enigma of nature's chemical asymmetry. Chiral molecules possess non-superimposable mirror-image forms like human hands, and living organisms almost exclusively contain just one form, a phenomenon known as homochirality. In pharmaceutical development, controlling this asymmetry is critical because one enantiomer may provide the desired therapeutic benefit while its mirror counterpart can trigger adverse side effects.

Early laboratory efforts yielded equal mixtures of both enantiomers until Willy Marckwald used chiral catalysts for slight selectivity, and Charles Frank proposed a mathematical model requiring an asymmetric reaction, amplification, and autocatalytic positive feedback loops. Building on this theoretical framework in the 1980s, Kagan identified that mixed catalyst combinations could decelerate specific pathways and favor a particular enantiomer, introducing the 'nonlinear effect' as a vital mechanism for directing asymmetric synthesis.

Inspired by Kagan's breakthrough, Kensō Soai designed an autocatalytic reaction where the synthesized product itself catalyzed the generation of more identical molecules. Testing with 5-pyrimidylalkanol, he demonstrated dramatic amplification of a minuscule initial chiral imbalance, culminating in a 2003 milestone where a reaction starting from non-oriented materials spontaneously generated and amplified a single enantiomer to 99.99 percent purity, successfully replicating biological homochirality outside of living systems.