ChemInteractive is a free online resource for students of organic chemistry. It provides learners with a large selection of problems on organic structure, nomenclature and reaction mechanisms so that they can test their knowledge, and hone their skills, in those areas.
It provides extensive help, and detailed feedback on user's solutions, to guide them and help them learn how to solve problems in core aspects of organic chemistry.
Problem solving is key to understanding, and ChemInteractive acts like an online tutor, helping learners to solve problems as a human tutor would, but available to help anywhere, anytime and at 'anypace'.
It is much more than just an online problem bank, it mimics some key aspects of human tutoring, as illustrated in the screenshots below:
To try ChemInteractive problems, use the Structure, Mechanism or Nomenclature items in the menu at the top of the page.
If you have used ChemInteractive before, you will notice that this new version is a major upgrade from the previous one (2016). It has a totally new design that is more user-friendly, and is better adapted to modern computers and tablets. It retains the Nomenclature and Mechanism problems but the analysis of learners' responses to the Mechanism problems is much more detailed and 'intelligent' than before.
Future plans: ChemInteractive is a work in progress, it is not complete. Structure, nomenclature and mechanism problems are included in the current release (regular upgrades during 2024). It is hoped that problems on other topics will be added regularly.
Updates are listed at News, some of the most recent changes are listed below.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please submit them using the Contact page.
Technical requirements: No downloads or plugins are required. ChemInteractive should work on computers with any operating system as long as a modern browser is used; the only requirement is that JavaScript must be enabled. It should work OK on tablets too, but is very difficult to use on very small screens. Some features will work on phones (iOS & Android) but others will not. Only a few devices have been tested - if you find bugs or experience difficulties please report them here.
Privacy: No personal information is recorded (even for registration). The development of ChemInteractive is done on a voluntary basis, with support from UCD School of Chemistry, so it is entirely free and there are no ads, and no cookies or trackers are used. Statistics are collected using Google Analytics, but only non-specific information about users' broad locations and engagement with the site is collected. If you wish to leave a comment in the Contact page, your username will be shown on the comment, and you will have options to provide an email address and your location (town/city).