Friday, October 7 2005 13:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Stockholm: France's Yves Chauvin and Americans Robert H Grubbs and Richard R Schrock won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday (Oct 5, 2005), for their work in reducing hazardous waste in forming new chemicals.

The trio won the award for their development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis, which focuses on how chemical bonds are broken and made between carbon atoms, and which the committee likened to a dance in which the couples change partners.

Metathesis has tremendous commercial potential in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and foodstuffs production industries. It is also used in the development of revolutionary polymers.