The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded Oct. 8 to Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Richard Robson of University of Melbourne and former University of Michigan professor Omar Yaghi for the development of a new form of molecular architecture known as metal-organic frameworks . Each laureate was recognized for their individual contributions to the field of reticular chemistry . Yaghi was a professor of the U-M department of Chemistry from 1999 to 2006 , where he initiated much of the groundbreaking research that led to his award.

In 1989, Robson developed the first metal-organic framework , which can be used to capture and store specific substances by varying the building blocks used in their formation. Between 1992 and 2003, Kitagawa discovered that MOFs could be made flexi

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