| Sergey Nikolaevich Reformatsky | |
| Birth Date: | April 1, 1860 |
| Birth Place: | Borisoglebskoe,[1] near Ivanovo, Kostroma Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Death Place: | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Alma Mater: | University of Kazan |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Alexander Mikhailovich Zaitsev, Wilhelm Ostwald |
| Known For: | Reformatskii reaction |
| Field: | Chemist |
| Work Institution: | University of Kyiv |
Sergey Nikolaevich Reformatsky (Russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Реформа́тский; 1 April 1860 - 28 July 1934) was a Russian chemist.
He was born as a son of a preacher in Borisoglebskoe, near Ivanovo. He studied at the University of Kazan under Alexander Mikhailovich Zaitsev until 1882. He went to Germany for further studies. He joined Victor Meyer at the University of Heidelberg and Wilhelm Ostwald at the University of Leipzig and finally getting his Ph.D in 1891. The following year he was appointed professor at the University of Kyiv where he stayed the rest of his life.
In 1887 discovered the Reformatsky reaction, during which a zinc organic compound is the key component. The use of zinc in organic reactions was common at that time, but it was subsequently replaced by the more convenient magnesium. This was not possible for the reaction of α-chloro acids with ketones, because the magnesium based Grignard reagents are more reactive and lead to other products. This made the Reformatsky reaction a convenient way for the synthesis of β-hydroxy acids which were difficult to obtain with other methods.
Sitzung am 8. April 1935. Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft (A and B Series). 1935. 68. 5. A61–A71. 10.1002/cber.19350680558. Hofmann. K. A..