The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Susumu Kitagawa for foundational research into the molecular construction of metal-organic frameworks. His work, which demonstrated that porous coordination polymers possess distinct gas adsorption properties, transformed the understanding of functional porous materials. This development marked a pivot point in the evolution of modern coordination chemistry and materials science.
Academic Foundation
Born in Kyoto in 1951, Susumu Kitagawa completed his undergraduate studies and earned his PhD in hydrocarbon chemistry at Kyoto University. His early career included appointments at Kindai University, where he served as an assistant professor, lecturer, and associate professor between 1979 and 1988. He held a postdoctoral fellowship at Texas A&M University under F. Albert Cotton from 1986 to 1987. In 1992, he joined Tokyo Metropolitan University as a professor of inorganic chemistry before returning to his alma mater in 1998.
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At Kyoto University, Kitagawa took the role of professor of inorganic functional chemistry. In 2007, he helped establish the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, where he served as founding deputy director and later as director from 2013 to 2023. He assumed the position of Executive Vice-President for Research Promotion at the university in 2024. Throughout his career, he contributed to the Science Council of Japan as both a member and associate member.
Contributions to Coordination Chemistry
Kitagawa focused his research on organic-inorganic hybrid compounds and porous coordination polymers. In 1997, he reported that these coordination structures could be utilized for gas adsorption, providing a mechanism for developing advanced materials. His scholarship includes a 2004 review on functional porous coordination polymers and a 2009 study on soft porous crystals, which are characterized by their ability to undergo structural transformations when subjected to physical or chemical stimuli.
Fast facts
- Born: 4 July 1951, Kyoto, Japan
- Education: Kyoto University
- Primary Field: Coordination Chemistry
- Key Award: Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2025
- Order of Culture: 2025
- Ernest Solvay Prize: 2017
- De Gennes Prize: 2013
Questions readers ask
For what discovery did Susumu Kitagawa win the Nobel Prize?
He received the prize in 2025 for his foundational work regarding the molecular building blocks used in metal-organic frameworks.
What is the significance of his 1997 report?
It provided the first demonstration that porous coordination polymers possess functional gas adsorption properties.
Achievements
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry — 2025
- Held posts at Kyoto University
- Educated at Kyoto University
- Fields of research: chemistry
