Alexander Mikhaylovich Butlerov (Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Бу́тлеров; 15 September 1828 – 17 August 1886) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

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 a ...

(1857–1861), the first to incorporate

double bond In chemistry, a double bond is a covalent bond between two atoms involving four bonding electrons as opposed to two in a single bond. Double bonds occur most commonly between two carbon atoms, for example in alkenes. Many double bonds exist betw ...

s into structural formulas, the discoverer of

hexamine Hexamethylenetetramine, also known as methenamine, hexamine, or urotropin, is a heterocyclic organic compound with the formula (CH2)6N4. This white crystalline compound is highly soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It has a cage-like s ...

(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 Fo ...

(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 In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ...

arrangement of

valence bond In chemistry, valence bond (VB) theory is one of the two basic theories, along with molecular orbital (MO) theory, that were developed to use the methods of quantum mechanics to explain chemical bonding. It focuses on how the atomic orbitals of ...

s in carbon compounds in 1862. 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. Alexander Butlerov was born in

Chistopol Chistopol (russian: Чи́стополь; tt-Cyrl, Чистай, ''Çistay''; cv, Чистай, ''Çistay'') is a town in Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. As of the 2010 Census, its p ...

into a landowning family.

References

* * * * * 1828 births 1886 deaths People from Chistopol Chemists from the Russian Empire Inventors from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg State University faculty Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences {{Russia-chemist-stub