Nobel in chemistry recognizes a discovery worthy of ‘Harry Potter’

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for their development of metal-organic frameworks that could eventually help reduce pollution and combat climate change.

- By Kostya MANENKOV, STEFANIE DAZIO AND CHRISTINA LARSON

A member of the Nobel committee likened the discovery to Hermione Granger’s seemingly bottomless enchanted handbag in the “Harry Potter” series, in that the frameworks may look small from the outside but are able to hold surprisingly vast quantities within them.

The Nobel Committee said Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were being awarded for “groundbreaking discoveries,” saying “some of these may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges.”

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

The chemists worked separately but added to one another’s breakthroughs, which began in 1989 with Robson.

The trio’s new form of molecular architecture can absorb and contain gases inside stable metal organic frameworks. It “can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions,” a news release said.

The frameworks can be compared to the timber framework of a house, and Hermione’s famous beaded handbag, in that they are small on the outside but very large on the inside, according to Olof Ramstrom, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.