Alexander Mikhaylovich Butlerov (russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Бу́тлеров; 15 September 1828 – 17 August 1886) was a
Russian chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
, one of the principal creators of the theory of
chemical structure
A chemical structure determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target molecule or other solid. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of at ...
(1857–1861), the first to incorporate
double bonds into structural formulas, the discoverer of
hexamine (1859), the discoverer of
formaldehyde
Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
(1859) and the discoverer of the
formose reaction
The formose reaction, discovered by Aleksandr Butlerov in 1861, and hence also known as the Butlerov reaction, involves the formation of sugars from formaldehyde. The term formose is a portmanteau of formaldehyde and aldose.
Reaction and mechanism ...
(1861). He first proposed the idea of possible
tetrahedral arrangement of
valence bonds in carbon compounds in 1862.
Butlerov was born into a landowning family.
The crater
Butlerov on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is named after him.
Image:Stamp of USSR 1629g.jpg, 1951 Alexander Butlerov USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
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External links
1828 births
1886 deaths
People from Chistopol
Chemists from the Russian Empire
Inventors from the Russian Empire
Academic staff of Saint Petersburg State University
Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
{{Russia-chemist-stub