Araxie Babayan was born on 5 May 1906 in Yerevan.[2] As a student of Yerevan State University, Babayan worked in the chemical laboratory, performing demonstrative experiments of her teacher Stepan Gambaryan, founder of the school of organic chemistry in Armenia.[3] She graduated from the agricultural faculty of the Yerevan State University in 1928.[4] From 1928 until 1958, Babayan worked at Yerevan's veterinary institute and, beginning in 1935, in the Chemical Institute of Armenia branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.[4]
In 1937, Babayan graduated from the faculty chemistry at the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute.[2] She defended her dissertation in 1937 and her doctoral dissertation in 1945.[3] Babayan's main research was devoted to amines and quaternary ammonium compounds.[4] She established a number of new laws in the chemistry of quaternary ammonium compounds.[5] Babayan proposed a method for synthesizing acetylene glycols, known in the chemical literature as Favorskii–Babayan reactions.[6]
Between 1949 and 1953, Babayan was a deputy director of science of the Chemical Institute of the ArmFAN of the USSR.[5]
In 1953, she discovered the catalytic action of ammonium salts for the alkylation reaction of organic acids.[4]
Between 1955 and 1957, Babayan was a head of the organic chemistry sector and, from 1957 to 1993, head of the laboratory of the amino compounds of Academy of Sciences of Armenian SSR.[5]
Beginning in 1956, Babayan was a corresponding member, and, beginning in 1966, an Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR.[3] In 1961, Babayan was recognized as an Honored Scientist of the Armenian SSR.[2]
From 1976 to 1983, Babayan was a chief editor of Armenian Chemical Journal.[4]
She was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the second, third, and fourth convocations of the Armenian SSR.[2]
Araxie Babayan died on 13 February 1993 in Yerevan and is buried at Nubarashen cemetery.[3]
