The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks.” The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday, 8 October 2025.
The Nobel Committee recognized the trio for their work in developing a new form of molecular architecture. According to Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, “Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions.”
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are molecular constructions where “metal ions and molecules are organised to form crystals that contain large cavities.” These are used to construct porous materials with large amounts of space inside.
The trio’s work stretches back to 1989, when Robson first ran a series of experiments to utilise the inherent properties of atoms in a new way.
Inspired by the structure of diamonds, where each carbon atom is joined to four others, he connected copper ions to a molecule with four arms. The resulting structure, a metallic-organic framework, formed a well-ordered pyramid structure, like that of a diamond. The difference was that the new crystal was full of cavities, and, unfortunately, unstable.
His work was improved upon by Kitagawa and Yaghi between 1992 and 2003, through a series of revolutionary discoveries that realised the true potential of the molecular construction.
In 1997, Kitagawa developed an MOF that allowed gases to flow in and out of the structure without affecting the construction. In 1998, he further showed that MOFs can have flexible structures.
Yaghi managed to tackle the problem of instability. In 1999, he constructed a highly stable MOF, a few grams of which had space inside equivalent to a football pitch. Then in the early 2000s, he showed that MOF structures could be modified using rational design – MOFs could be varied based on their molecular links, with each variant having different properties.
The trio’s discoveries were groundbreaking, resulting in the creation of countless new materials that “may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges,” according to the Nobel Prize website.
MOFs can be used to capture and store specific substances, drive chemical reactions, and even conduct electricity. Tens of thousands have been constructed so far, each with special properties and functions.
There is an MOF that can capture water from desert air at night and release it in the day. Another can separate ‘forever chemicals’ from water. Another still can be used to break down crude oil and pharmaceutical traces in the environment. Similarly, there are many more MOFs with a range of functions – from extracting rare-earth elements from wastewater to absorbing and storing gases like carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Their applications stretch from tackling pollution and climate change, to uses in medical treatments and machines.
Susumu Kitagawa is a professor at Kyoto university, Japan. Richard Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Omar M. Yaghi is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.
The award will be conferred to the three later this year in December, along with three gold medals, and a million-dollar prize, which will be split evenly between them.
This announcement is the third of ‘Nobel Week’, following prizes in Medicine and Physics, which were announced on 6 and 7 October 2025, respectively. Winners for Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences are to be declared over the coming days. The formal Nobel ceremony is scheduled to take place in Stockholm on 10 December 2025, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. [Rh/DS]
