List of Free Online Organic Chemistry Courses, Classes and Learning Materials
See our list of the top free online organic chemistry courses. Learn about what courses are available and what topics they cover to find the course that's right for you.
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Free Online Course Info
Several schools offer online courses in organic chemistry, which is the study of carbon compounds. The self-directed courses outlined below can include videos, lecture notes and homework assignments, but they do not award grades or academic credit.
Education Portal
Students can watch Education Portal's free General Chemistry videos as often as needed to understand the material. Additionally, quizzes that allow them to monitor their comprehension of each lesson can help them prepare to pass the College Board's credit-granting Chemistry CLEP exam (students should make sure the institution they're transferring to accepts these credits). In this course, students build a foundational understanding of introductory chemistry, with topics ranging from the periodic table to chemical bonding. Other areas of study include atomic theory, the Bohr model, and unit conversion. Learning units are divided into 10-minute videos that can be watched individually or as a sequence.
University of California - Irvine
- Full Undergraduate Chemistry Sequence (12 courses available as of March 2013)
UC - Irvine has been offering free online chemistry courses since 2009, but they recently made available the complete course sequence of a Chemistry major through the OpenChem Initiative. Starting with a Prep Course for General Chemistry and including college classics like Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, OpenChem courses walk students through four years of undergraduate Chemistry education and even include some graduate level courses like Organic Reactions Mechanisms and Organic Spectroscopy.
Students interested in these courses have free access to lectures, and reading and homework lists. While the actual readings are not included at this point (i.e., students might need to purchase textbooks to get the full materials), UCI is hoping to eventually provide no- or low-cost alternative materials for Chemistry learners. Furthermore, while there is no way to get credit for completing these courses at this time, the university is discussing possible partnerships with schools and companies that may use these courses.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT's free organic chemistry courses include lecture notes and assignments. Some of the courses also have exams, which are not assessed or graded. Students must obtain the recommended reading materials on their own.
The undergraduate course, Organic Chemistry I, teaches students about organic molecular structure. Lecture notes cover topics including chemical reactions, alkyl reactions and carbonyl chemistry. The intermediate Organic Chemistry II course examines processes for identifying molecular structures and synthesizing organic compounds. This course also discusses how organic chemistry is used in medicine, biology and industry.
Advanced Organic Chemistry is another undergraduate course that looks at stereochemistry and reaction dynamics as well as carbenes and free radicals. The graduate-level course, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, considers how such methods as stereocontrolled alkylation and alkene reduction are used to make complicated organic molecules.
University of California - Berkeley
Structure and Reactivity is a free course from UC - Berkeley that consists of 23 video lectures covering such topics as spectroscopy, aromatic compounds, aldehydes, carboxylic acid and carbohydrates. This non-credit course does not include lecture notes, assignments or exams.
University of Massachusetts - Boston
Organic Chemistry I discusses topics including aldehydes and ketones, spectroscopy, aromatic compounds, carboxylic acids and amines. Students have access to lecture notes as well as exams with answers. The lab component is not available to online students.
University of Michigan
The Synthesis and Characterization of Carbonyl Compounds is an undergraduate course that teaches students how to use microscale equipment in the laboratory. Spectroscopy and chromatography are also discussed. Course materials largely consist of outlines of experiments. However, online students will not have access to lab sessions. Class handouts and supplemental reading materials are also included; these documents can be accessed on the website or downloaded as a ZIP file.
Yale University
These classes were originally taught as a 1-year, introductory course sequence in organic chemistry. Lectures are available in video, audio and transcript formats. Homework assignments, illustrations and additional reading materials are also available via a link to the professor's website.
Freshman Organic Chemistry I includes 37 lectures on such topics as x-ray diffraction, wave functions, chemical reactivity and stereochemical nomenclature. Mid-term and final exams with solutions are also included. The Freshman Organic Chemistry II course continues the introduction to organic chemistry with lectures in complex reaction mechanisms, spectroscopy and organic synthesis. Exams are not included with this course.
Earn Real Credit from Free Courses
While the free courses above don't award credit directly, you can earn credit by passing an exam and transferring credit to your college. There are two widely recognized and affordable options for exams that award credit.
Option #1: CLEP Exams
The College Board's 33 CLEP exams allow you to test out of your general education requirements. Credit is accepted at 2/3 of colleges and universities in the U.S.
Option #2: Excelsior College's Credit-by-Exam
Excelsior College offers over 40 exams that lead to transferable credit. You can also earn three full degrees by taking free online courses and earning your credit by exam.
Learn how Education Portal Academy will pay you to earn credit!
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2 Popular Schools
The schools in the listing below are not free but are popular choices among our users. Tuition and costs will vary across programs and locations. Be sure to always request tuition information before starting a program.
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