Two scientists have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on building molecules that are mirror images of one another.

German-born Benjamin List and Scotland-born David MacMillan were announced as the winners at an event in Stockholm.

Their chemical toolkit has been used for discovering new drugs and making molecules that can capture light in solar cells.

The winners will share the prize money of 10 million krona (£842,611).

The technique, called asymmetric organocatalysis, has made it much easier to produce asymmetric molecules. These are chemicals that exist in two versions, where one is a mirror image of the other.

Chemists often just want one of these mirror images - particularly when producing medicines - but it has been difficult to find efficient methods for doing this.

Benjamin List – awarded the #NobelPrize in Chemistry – wondered whether an entire enzyme was really required to obtain a catalyst. He tested whether an amino acid called proline could catalyse a chemical reaction. It worked brilliantly. Official Tweet