Congratulations to the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025

The Royal Society offers its congratulations to the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025, including Royal Society Fellows Professor Susumu Kitagawa FRS and Professor Richard Robson FRS.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded this year’s prize to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Professor Omar M Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks”.

Professor Sheila Rowan, Physical Secretary and Vice President of the Royal Society said, “I warmly welcome the news that two Fellows of the Royal Society, Professor Susumu Kitagawa and Professor Richard Robson have been awarded today’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Omar M Yaghi. Their research into the fundamental science of metal-organic frameworks is allowing scientists everywhere to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges, from harvesting clean water, to capturing carbon dioxide and catalysing low energy chemical reactions. Together, they have helped lay the foundations of and set the direction for one of the fastest-growing areas of fundamental research in modern chemistry.”

Richard Robson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022 for founding the prolific field of metallic organic frameworks (MOFs), tailor-made structures with a range of applications in areas such as gas sorption and catalysis. Susumu Kitagawa was elected in 2023 for pioneering the chemistry of MOFs and establishing the chemistry of coordination space.