He worked in the laboratory of Alexander Butlerov, studying the interaction of paraformaldehyde with hydrohalic acids.
Tishchenko became a lecturer at St. Petersburg State University in 1891, where he taught analytical chemistry.
Following the 1917 October Revolution, Tishchenko headed a laboratory at the Russian State Institute of Applied Chemistry, which was affiliated with the military industry and focused on chemical synthesis.
[6] Tishchenko was among the first biographers of Mendeleev, collaborating with Mikhail Nikolaevich Mladentsev to publish a biography in 1938, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, его жизнь и деятельность (Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, his life and work).
Though not published until later, Tishchenko and Mladentsev also wrote a second biography, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, его жизнь и деятельность: Университетский период 1861-1890 (Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, his life and work: University period 1861-1890).