Yale Freshman Organic Chemistry (J. Michael McBride): study plan and how long it takes
The YaleCourses playlist is 37 videos and 30.1 hours long. Here's how long it takes at different paces, a week-by-week schedule built from the real videos, and a planner that turns it into your own daily plan.
37 videos · 30.1 hours · YaleCourses
J. Michael McBride's Freshman Organic Chemistry at Yale approaches the subject by asking how chemists know what they know: the history of chemical theory, X-ray diffraction, quantum mechanics and orbitals, bonding and reactivity, stereochemistry, conformational analysis, and reaction mechanisms and kinetics.
It's unusual and deep, more about understanding than memorizing reactions.
Who it's for: Students taking organic chemistry who want a conceptual foundation, and curious learners with some chemistry background.
How long does it take?
The full playlist is 30.1 hours across 37 videos. Here's roughly how many days that is at different daily watch times and speeds, counting video time only:
| Daily time | At 1x | At 1.5x | At 2x |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 min a day | 61 days | 41 days | 31 days |
| 1 h a day | 31 days | 21 days | 16 days |
| 2 h a day | 16 days | 11 days | 8 days |
Make your own schedule
The playlist link is already filled in. Press Plan, set how much time you have each day and your speed, and you'll get a day-by-day schedule with a finish date and a calendar file. It reads the live playlist, so new videos are included.
Week-by-week schedule
A sample plan at 1 hour a day and normal speed, using whole videos so none is split across days. That's 6 weeks in total. For a different pace, start date or speed, use the planner above.
Week 1Videos 1–7 · 5h 40m
Day 1 · 47m
- 11. How Do You Know?47m
Day 2 · 50m
- 22. Force Laws, Lewis Structures and Resonance50m
Day 3 · 45m
- 33. Double Minima, Earnshaw's Theorem and Plum-Puddings45m
Day 4 · 50m
- 44. Coping with Smallness and Scanning Probe Microscopy50m
Day 5 · 47m
- 55. X-Ray Diffraction47m
Day 6 · 51m
- 66. Seeing Bonds by Electron Difference Density51m
Day 7 · 49m
- 77. Quantum Mechanical Kinetic Energy49m
Week 2Videos 8–14 · 5h 45m
Day 8 · 50m
- 88. One-Dimensional Wave Functions50m
Day 9 · 50m
- 99. Chladni Figures and One-Electron Atoms50m
Day 10 · 49m
- 1010. Reality and the Orbital Approximation49m
Day 11 · 49m
- 1111. Orbital Correction and Plum-Pudding Molecules49m
Day 12 · 51m
- 1212. Overlap and Atom-Pair Bonds51m
Day 13 · 50m
- 1313. Overlap and Energy-Match50m
Day 14 · 48m
- 1414. Checking Hybridization Theory with XH_348m
Week 3Videos 15–21 · 5h 37m
Day 15 · 47m
- 1515. Chemical Reactivity: SOMO, HOMO, and LUMO47m
Day 16 · 50m
- 1616. Recognizing Functional Groups50m
Day 17 · 42m
- 1717. Reaction Analogies and Carbonyl Reactivity42m
Day 18 · 51m
- 1818. Amide, Carboxylic Acid and Alkyl Lithium51m
Day 19 · 47m
- 1919. Oxygen and the Chemical Revolution (Beginning to 1789)47m
Day 20 · 50m
- 2020. Rise of the Atomic Theory (1790-1805)50m
Day 21 · 49m
- 2121. Berzelius to Liebig and Wöhler (1805-1832)49m
Week 4Videos 22–28 · 5h 45m
Day 22 · 49m
- 2222. Radical and Type Theories (1832-1850)49m
Day 23 · 49m
- 2323. Valence Theory and Constitutional Structure (1858)49m
Day 24 · 50m
- 2424. Determining Chemical Structure by Isomer Counting (1869)50m
Day 25 · 49m
- 2525. Models in 3D Space (1869-1877); Optical Isomers49m
Day 26 · 48m
- 2626. Van't Hoff's Tetrahedral Carbon and Chirality48m
Day 27 · 52m
- 2727. Communicating Molecular Structure in Diagrams and Words52m
Day 28 · 48m
- 2828. Stereochemical Nomenclature; Racemization and Resolution48m
Week 5Videos 29–35 · 5h 42m
Day 29 · 50m
- 2929. Preparing Single Enantiomers and the Mechanism of Optical Rotation50m
Day 30 · 51m
- 3030. Esomeprazole as an Example of Drug Testing and Usage51m
Day 31 · 49m
- 3131. Preparing Single Enantiomers and Conformational Energy49m
Day 32 · 46m
- 3232. Stereotopicity and Baeyer Strain Theory46m
Day 33 · 48m
- 3333. Conformational Energy and Molecular Mechanics48m
Day 34 · 49m
- 3434. Sharpless Oxidation Catalysts and the Conformation of Cycloalkanes49m
Day 35 · 49m
- 3535. Understanding Molecular Structure and Energy through Standard Bonds49m
Week 6Videos 36–37 · 1h 36m
Day 36 · 48m
- 3636. Bond Energies, the Boltzmann Factor and Entropy48m
Day 37 · 48m
- 3737. Potential Energy Surfaces, Transition State Theory and Reaction Mechanism48m
Tips for finishing
- Use it alongside your textbook rather than as a replacement; its order differs from most courses.
- Part II of the course is also on YouTube if you want to continue.