Susumu, Robson, Omar Yaghi win Nobel Prize in chemistry for molecular work

SCIENTISTS Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M Yaghi won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for their work in the development of metal-organic frameworks that dates back to 1989.

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The Nobel committee said that the three laureates "have developed a new form of molecular architecture".

"They have created molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow," the committee said.

Hans Ellegren, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the chemistry prize in Stockholm. It was the third prize announced this week.

"These constructions, metal-organic frameworks, can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions," the Nobel Committee said in a statement.

Robson, 88, is affiliated with the University of Melbourne in Australia, Kitagawa, 74, with Japan's Kyoto University and Yaghi, 60, with the University of California, Berkeley.