GoKawiilIn 2001, the chemists H. C. Kolb, M. G. Finn and K. Barry Sharpless published a review1 in Angewandte Chemie that revolutionized how molecules were used in several scientific fields. The paper launched the concept of click chemistry: a class of chemical reactions that work in solution exceptionally efficiently to ‘click’ together two or more molecules in a highly specific manner and without producing any unwanted by-products. Originally conceived of as a tool for synthesizing pharmaceutical candidates, click chemistry is now widely used by biologists and engineers, and won Sharpless a share of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01155-x
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Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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