Below is a list of the prizewinners during the period 1981 - 1990 with a description of the works which won them their prizes:(1981) K FUKUI & R HOFFMANN — for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions; (1982) A KLUG — for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nuclei acid-protein complexes; (1983) H TAUBE — for his work on the mechanisms of electron transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes; (1984) R B MERRIFIELD — for his development of the methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix; (1985) H A HAUPTMAN & J KARLE — for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures; (1986) D R HERSCHBACH, Y T LEE & J C POLANYI — for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes; (1987) D J CRAM, J-M LEHN & C J PEDERSEN — for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity; (1988) J DEISENHOFER, R HUBER & H MICHEL — for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre; (1989) S ALTMAN & T R CECH — for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA; (1990) E J COREY — for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis.