Click chemistry is like making small molecular robots out of building blocks

Chemistry is everything, including when you fall in love.

- Nirmal Jovial

That is Danish scientist Morten Meldal’s oft-repeated statement. His wife, Phaedria Marie St Hilaire, also a distinguished scientist, agrees. Dominican-born Hilaire, founder of the nonprofit The Professional Women of Colour (ProWoc) network, says that “the chemistry of love” between them ‘clicked’ during their shared lab endeavours.

Meldal, along with American chemists K. Barry Sharpless and Carolyn R. Bertozzi, won the Nobel Prize in 2022 for their groundbreaking discovery of 'click chemistry,' a revolutionary method for constructing complex molecules. This innovation holds immense potential to shape our future. But in an exclusive chat with THE WEEK, Meldal, 70, remains humble, characterising it as something simple. Excerpts:

You often mention that your curiosity and early interest in science was instilled by nature, on your grandfather’s farm.

Yes, I have a lot of wonderful memories from my childhood. That’s why I love nature so much, in particular in connection with being in nature. I have very clear images of sitting on a cherry tree, eating the wild cherries and then going to the beach and swimming. I think that childhood should be a happy time where you learn all of these things and get a feeling for what the world is all about.

Your Nobel Prize was for click chemistry. Building complicated molecules is something very important in different domains. Your discovery introduced an efficient and time-saving method to create these complex molecules. What is click chemistry and how has it revolutionised the field?