His father was a military physician. He was a student of Academician . In 1940, he defended his Candidate's Dissertation at the N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry. In 1949, he defended his doctoral dissertation. From 1950 to 1992, Perekalin headed the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Herzen University. In this University he organized the Faculty of Chemistry. He taught in the Herzen University for 48 years. In 1995, he was appointed Soros Professor.
He has a son Pyotr.
Perekalin is the author of more than 350 scientific papers.