One of the best things with being a scientist, according to Nobel Laureate Benjamin List, is that you discover things that nobody else has seen before – and, following his own advice, he is now happy trying to tackle “holy grails” in catalysis.

“As chemists, we can create things that are new to the universe and potentially improve our life. Thanks to the generous support of the Max Planck Society, I have the freedom to research whatever I am interested in,” says Prof. Dr. Benjamin List, Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.

“Another great part of being a scientist is the international atmosphere – both at our institute and in the worldwide community,” he adds.

Together with David MacMillan, a professor at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, U.S., List received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. This has had a great impact on pharmaceutical research, and it has also made chemistry greener.

A beautiful, fascinating science

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Nobel Prizes 2021 were awarded in a hybrid format in pandemic-curtailed local ceremonies. The ceremony honoring List took place on December 7th in Berlin’s Harnack House, the conference venue of the Max Planck Society. Just two months earlier, on October 6th, Benjamin List had received the famous telephone call from Sweden.

“I had been sitting in a café in Amsterdam with my wife in that moment and went outside to answer the call. When I received the news I made a funny gesture to my wife – as if I was fainting. She immediately got it.”

“When I noticed my phone vibrating and saw that an unknown number from Sweden was calling, I could not believe it. It was overwhelming. I had been sitting in a café in Amsterdam with my wife in that moment and went outside to answer the call. When I received the news I made a funny gesture to my wife – as if I was fainting. She immediately got it,” he says.

Although receiving a Nobel Prize came as a big surprise for List, he knew early on in life that he wanted to become a scientist.

“I wanted to become a chemist since I was eleven years old. As a child I had a quite philosophical interest in science. I believed that chemists are the ones who can explain everything, as they look into the smallest parts of matter. Obviously I was wrong, chemists cannot explain everything, but it is still a beautiful, fascinating science to me,” he states.

Perhaps the interest in chemistry also runs in the blood. List’s great-great-grandfather was the chemist Jacob Volhard, and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, a Nobel Prize winner in physiology and medicine 1995, is his aunt.

 

Benjamin List

Benjamin List. Photo: Bernhard Ludewig/Nobel Prize Outreach

Opening the door to a new field

List was born in 1968 in Frankfurt, Germany, and his chemistry interest led him to study at the Free University of Berlin. He finished his doctorate studies at the University of Frankfurt/Main in 1997 and continued his research career at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, U.S. where he did postdoctorate studies and became Assistant Professor in 1999. During his time in California, List was part of a research group that tried to develop new enzyme variants to drive chemical reactions, and it was at this time he began thinking about if a single amino acid, or other similar simple molecules, could catalyze a chemical reaction.

The construction of molecules, for example that can inhibit the progression of diseases, requires catalysts, substances that control and accelerate chemical reactions without becoming part of the final product. “Our own bodies consists of thousands of catalysts in the form of enzymes, which chisel out the molecules necessary for life,” described the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in their announcement of the award.

“We discovered that there is a third way to make chemical reactions faster, cheaper and more sustainable.”

“Until the late 1990s, chemists were sure that there were only two generally applicable types of catalysts: metal-based catalysts and enzymes. We discovered that there is a third way to make chemical reactions faster, cheaper and more sustainable,” describes List.

The third type of catalysis that List and MacMillan were able to develop independently of each other, in 2000, is called organocatalysis. It is built upon small organic molecules, often inexpensive and non-toxic, that are particularly suitable for asymmetric synthesis because in this process only one of two enantiomers is produced, which means that they cannot be spatially aligned. Such molecules are involved in all biological processes and also play an important role as medical agents.

 

Benjamin List

Benjamin List. Photo: Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung

 

Driven by curiosity

Since their discoveries, the two scientists have shown that organic catalysts can be used to drive multitudes of chemical reactions, and researchers can now more efficiently construct new pharmaceuticals, for example.

“For example, our method is used in the production of one important drug against HIV [Darunavir]. Other applications include the selective production of scents.”

“There are several fascinating applications for organocatalysis,” says List. “For example, our method is used in the production of one important drug against HIV [Darunavir]. Other applications include the selective production of scents.”

In an interview with Catarina Pietschmann (first published in MaxPlanckResearch science magazine No 1, 2017) List said that after stumbling across a reference to the catalytic effect of the amino acid proline, he was curious to try it as a catalyst. He was not sure at all that would work, but no one had tried before  – and it worked.

His advice to aspiring scientist is just that, to follow your enthusiasm, and regardless if you reach your goals, “You will definitely be happy trying,” he says.

 

Holy grails in catalysis

In 2003 Benjamin List returned to Germany when he was offered the position of manager of a research group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, today an international, highly competitive institution in the field of catalysis. Since 2005 he has been Director and Scientific Member at the same institute, and since 2004, Honorary Professor at the University of Cologne.

Overall, the Max Planck Institute is known for its great scientific freedom and sufficient resources secured for the long term. List is actually the second researcher from Max Planck to receive a Nobel Prize 2021. One of the Nobel Laureates in Physics 2021, Klaus Hasselmann, recognized for his climate research, is a former Director at the Institute. In addition, last year, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Reinhard Genzel, two scientists from the Max Planck Society, were also awarded with Nobel Prizes.

“Max Planck Institutes are built around directors – such as me. We ourselves define our research topics, we are given the best working conditions and we are free in selecting our staff,” describes List. ”This is the core of the so-called Harnack principle, which dates back to Adolph von Harnack, the first President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which was established in 1911. It was the predecessor institution of the Max Planck Society.”

“We like to work on problems that define the limits of basic research, while their solutions would simultaneously enable new technologies.”

Currently, List and his colleagues are trying to tackle “holy grails” in catalysis, he says. “We like to work on problems that define the limits of basic research, while their solutions would simultaneously enable new technologies.”

Among the challenges of being a scientist is convincing others of the relevance of your work in order to secure funding, says List.

“Without funding, scientific research is almost impossible – although I like to say that it is more important to not run out of ideas than to not run out of funding.”