The Nobel laureates of the 2025 Chemistry Prize created molecular structures with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can pass. These structures, metal -organic frames, can be used to collect water from the air of deserts, capture carbon dioxide, storage toxic gases or catalysis of chemical reactions.
In their constructions, metal ions play the role of cornerstones associated with long organic molecules. Together, metal ions and molecules are organized into crystals containing large cavities. These porous materials are called metallurgical frames. By changing construction blocks, chemists can design them to capture and store certain substances. Structures can also control chemical reactions or conduct electricity.
“Metal -organic frames have enormous potential, opening previously unprecedented opportunities for creating individual materials with new functions,” said the chairman of the Nobel Committee on Chemistry Hayiner Linka.
The committee said that in 1989, Robson experimented using the internal properties of atoms in a new way. He combined the positively charged copper ions to the four -beam molecule. This molecule had a chemical group that was attracted to the ions of copper at the end of each of the branches. Combining, they formed an orderly, voluminous crystal filled with countless cavities.
Robson immediately understood the potential of his molecular structure, but it turned out to be unstable and easily destroyed. Kitagawa and Yagi laid a strong basis for this construction method. In the period from 1992 to 2003, they independently made a number of revolutionary discoveries. Kitagawa showed that gases can flow into the structure and flow out of them, and predicted that metal -organic frames can be made flexible. Yagi created a very stable metal -organic frame and showed that it can be modified by giving it new desired properties.
