The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has proudly announced the recipients of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This prestigious award is jointly bestowed upon Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Japan; Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia; and Omar M. Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley, USA. These three brilliant scientists are recognized for their transformative contributions to the field through their groundbreaking work on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). These remarkable crystalline materials, known for their extraordinary porous structures, are fundamentally reshaping chemistry, environmental science, and materials engineering.
What Earned Them the Nobel Prize?
The laureates are celebrated for their monumental achievement in developing metal-organic frameworks—intricate molecular architectures where metal ions are precisely linked by long organic molecules. MOFs are distinguished by their expansive cavities, which can be meticulously custom-designed to efficiently capture, store, or catalyze specific substances. Already, these versatile materials are demonstrating immense potential, with applications ranging from harvesting water directly from desert air and effectively capturing carbon dioxide, to separating toxic gases, conducting electricity, and facilitating critical chemical reactions. Their collective work has established a powerful and adaptable platform for creating tailor-made materials, poised to offer innovative solutions for some of humanity’s most pressing global challenges.
Susumu Kitagawa: The Visionary from Kyoto
Born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1951, Susumu Kitagawa completed his PhD at Kyoto University in 1979. As a distinguished professor at his alma mater, Kitagawa’s research illuminated the inherent flexibility and gas permeability of MOFs. He demonstrated how these ingenious porous structures could be precisely manipulated to selectively trap and then release various gases. His pivotal studies were crucial in establishing MOFs as highly functional and adaptable materials, paving the way for their diverse real-world applications.
Richard Robson: Laying the Foundation in Melbourne
Richard Robson, hailing from Glusburn, UK, where he was born in 1937, earned his PhD from the University of Oxford in 1962. During his tenure as a professor at the University of Melbourne, Robson initiated the foundational concept of MOFs. He achieved this by skillfully combining positively charged copper ions with multi-armed organic molecules, forming intricate, diamond-like crystals embedded with spacious cavities. Although his initial frameworks sometimes lacked stability, Robson’s pioneering efforts provided the essential conceptual and structural bedrock upon which Kitagawa’s and Yaghi’s later breakthroughs were built.
Omar M. Yaghi: Master of Rational Design at Berkeley
Omar M. Yaghi, born in Amman, Jordan, in 1965, obtained his PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1990. As a leading professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yaghi’s contributions were monumental. He successfully developed highly stable MOFs and, crucially, introduced rational design principles. These principles empower scientists to create frameworks with precisely customizable properties. His innovative work has led to the discovery and synthesis of tens of thousands of MOF variants, each holding significant promise for advancements in chemistry, energy storage, and critical environmental solutions.
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is a testament to the immense contributions of these three exceptional scientists. Their collaborative and individual efforts underscore the transformative potential of molecular design and crystal engineering in contemporary science, promising a profound global impact on addressing pressing environmental and technological challenges.