Omar Yaghi: 'MOFs are the most beautiful compounds ever made'

I don’t separate chemistry from my hobbies. I’m in love with chemistry. Hobbies are something you do for enjoyment and relaxation – and for me that’s chemistry.

I’m very interested in chemical structures, which is why I was attracted to chemistry to begin with. Molecular drawings and representations, crystals and things of this kind – what I think of as the beautiful aspects of chemistry. When I was a kid I bumped into these molecular drawings and didn’t know what they were, but immediately fell in love with them. They represent the world we can’t see with the naked eye. In a way, you know the inner workings of matter on the atomic molecular level.