A molecule’s ‘handedness’ can determine whether it’s an effective drug – 4 examples of pharmaceuticals where chirality matters

The 2026 Nobel Prize in chemistry gave a hand to handed molecules – and the processes chemists use to create them.

2026年諾貝爾化學獎授予Kagan和Soai，表彰他們揭示手性分子如何從微小失衡走向單一手性。文章以沙利度胺、布洛芬、L-DOPA和葡萄糖為例，說明分子手性如何決定藥效與安全性，並延伸到顯示、防偽與自旋電子學。