Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry?

Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry? Whether quantum computers can actually solve practical problems is one of the biggest unanswered questions of this growing industry - and one that might be answered by researchers in industrial and medical chemistry in 2026. Calculating the structure, reactivity and other chemical properties of a molecule is an intrinsically quantum problem because it involves its electrons, which are quantum particles. But the more complex a molecule is, the harder these calculations become, in some cases posing a real challenge even for traditional supercomputers. On the other hand, because quantum computers are also intrinsically quantum, they should have an advantage when it comes to tackling these chemical calculations.