Karl Barry Sharpless, Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Morten Meldal wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2022

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The Royal Swedish Academy of Science on 5 October 2022 announced the winner of the2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  Karl Barry Sharpless and Carolyn R. Bertozzi of America and Morten Meldal of Denmark were chosen "for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry."

While Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Morten Meldal are the first-time recipients of the Nobel, Karl Barry Sharpless won the top science award for the second time in his career. 

Karl Barry Sharpless is the second person to get Nobel in Chemistry twice after the British scientist Frederick Sanger who won it in 1958 and 1980.

Karl Barry Sharpless last won the Nobel in Chemistry in 2001 for his work around chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions.

The 2022 Chemistry prize was given to the three chemists for laying the foundation for a functional form of chemistry, click chemistry, and utilising it in living organisms. “

What is Click Chemistry?

Click chemistry is the special process of joining molecules together to form new molecules. The term “click chemistry'' was introduced by Barry Sharpless.

 Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless discovered chemical agents that could bind to molecules, and then add other molecules one after the other to form complex clusters of molecules which can be modified by the scientist according to the needs.  At present, through this click chemistry, large and complex structures are being created by connecting molecules. They are being used from making medicines to making polymers and new substances.

The Nobel Prize will be conferred on 10 December 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Persons/Institutions who has won the Nobel prize more than once 

• American Physicist John Bardeen won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 and in 1972.
• Marie Curie was a Polish/ French scientist. In 1903 she got the Nobel Prize in Physics along with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. She won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. She is the first woman to get a Nobel Prize. She and Linus Pauling are the only two people to win Nobel prizes in two different fields.
• Linus Pauling of America. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and Peace Prize in 1962.
• Frederick Sanger. He was a British scientist who won the Chemistry Nobel prize in 1958 and 1980.
• Karl Barry Sharpless. He is an American scientist who won Chemistry Nobel prize in 2001 and 2022.
• International Committee of Red Cross: It won Nobel peace prize in 1917, 1944 and in 1963.
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: It won the Nobel peace prize in 1954 and 1981.