Congratulations to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry” for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This is the second prize for Sharpless.

The term ‘bioorthogonal’ seems a little odd at first but the definition of orthogonal is- Adjective, intersecting or lying at right angles. This could stem from the idea of an atomic or molecular orbital whose axis is perpendicular to another resulting in bonding and anti-bonding orbital overlap. That is, they are electronically unconnected with each other. The analogy is with the fact that click reactions don’t interfere with biochemical reactions in the system. It’s a good choice of terms.

Sharpless achieved the vaunted adjective status prior to his earlier 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on catalyzed chiral oxidations, i.e., the Sharpless Oxidation. To be an adjective in a named reaction in chemistry is the highest honor for a synthesis chemist.