#2-29 - A Nobel Science Conversation ft. Prof. Benjamin List

In this episode, Bea talks to Prof. Benjamin List, director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung and 2021 Chemistry Nobel Laureate "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis".

Benjamin talks about his work, the pivotal point on the way to the discovery of organocatalysis, and what it means for pharmaceutical research as well as medicine and industry.

We talk about mRNA technology, transition-metal catalysis and organocatalysis, basic research in organic chemistry, advances in the field, and questions that are yet to be answered. Benjamin talks about the role of creativity in chemical research, making chemistry greener, and the biggest challenge that is global warming.

We also discuss the importance of communicating chemistry and the difficulty in translating its special language to illustrate its ubiquity in every part of our lives.

Check out Benjamin’s lab: https://www.kofo.mpg.de/en/research/homogeneous-catalysis

And read more about the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry here: https://www.kofo.mpg.de/20210910-chemistry-nobel-prize-for-ben-list?c=219043

and here: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2021/list/facts/

Episode Art: Photo by Hans Reniers (https://unsplash.com/@hansreniers) on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/)

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Intro - Outro music composed by Srinath Ramkumar: https://twitter.com/srinathramkumar

Pre-Intro jingle composed by Gustavo Carrizo: https://www.instagram.com/carrizo.gus

See you in a week, Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!