Royal Society of Chemistry Prize for York Organic Chemist

Posted on Wednesday 17 June 2026

The Robert Robinson Prize is awarded for outstanding contributions to any area of organic chemistry made by a mid-career scientist. Sir Robert Robinson – the scientist for whom the Prize was named – was a British organic chemist and Nobel laureate, recognised for his research on plant dyestuffs and alkaloids. 

The 2026 Robert Robinson Prize was awarded to Will Unsworth for the development of creative, modular strategies for the synthesis of biologically important small molecules, particularly those based on biocatalytic oxygenation reactions. The selective addition of oxygen ranks amongst the most important reactions in all chemistry, with countless vital applications, most notably in the production of pharmaceuticals. However, established methods often rely on the use of harmful and toxic reagents - using enzymes, the same reactions can be performed using safe and sustainable bioderived catalysts.   

The prize is especially notable for Will, as Robinson is arguably most famous for pioneering the use of curly arrows to show electron movement, which act to explain – and predict - reactivity. On this point, Dr Unsworth comments: 

‘Curly arrows are integral to the way we understand mechanism in organic chemistry, and how we go about imagining and creating completely new methods. They are essential to all the work ever developed in my lab. It is therefore a huge honour to receive the 2026 Robert Robinson Prize, named after one of all time greats of organic chemistry and the father of the curly arrow!’