In his first scientific works carried out under the guidance of Chugaev, Pigulevsky studied the chemistry of terpenes. Subsequently, essential oils and resins of coniferous plants became the main subject of his research. In addition to studying their formation and reactions, Pigulevsky also studied the optical properties of terpene compounds isolated from these oils. A number of articles were devoted to direct studies of plant materials from which essential oils and resins were extracted. His research of essential oils were of great practical importance, some of the substances discovered by Pigulevsky were applied in the perfume industry.
An important part of his research was the study of vegetable fats. Pigulevsky discovered the correlation between the degree of unsaturation of fats and the climate in which plants grew. Some of his works were devoted to the chemical properties of unsaturated acids.
In 1937, Pigulevsky was one of the first organic chemists in the USSR who began using the phenomenon of Raman scattering of light (the Raman effect) to study the physical properties of organic substances. By 1961, large number of Raman spectra had been collected for compounds found in essential oils of coniferous plants.
While working as the head of the laboratory of the labor protection department of the People's Commissariat of Labour, Pigulevsky published a number of works on the use of various devices in industry, as well as on the identification of harmful substances in the air.