Illustration of the Japanese chemist Ei-ichi Negishi (1935-2021). Negishi is best known for his work on cross-coupling reactions, where two molecules are joined together with the aid of a metal catalyst. He developed Richard Hecks technique for using palladium as a catalyst for joining organic molecules together by adding organozinc reagents. This process known as the Negishi reaction, or Negishi coupling, greatly increased the variety of reactions possible. Negishi was awarded a share of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Richard Heck and Akira Suzuki for his work on palladium-catalysed cross-couplings.