Simplest examples of rings that are not isomorphic to their opposites

Here's a factory for making examples. If $\Gamma$ is a quiver, and $k$ a field, then we get a quiver algebra $k\Gamma$. If $\Gamma$ has no oriented cycles, we can recover $\Gamma$ from $k\Gamma$ by taking the Ext-construction. Also, the opposite algebra of a quiver algebra is obtained by reversing all the arrows in the quiver.

Hence you can produce an example by taking the quiver algebra of any quiver with no oriented cycles, which is not isomorphic to its reverse. It's easy to construct lots of quivers with these properties.

Here is an easy example. Consider the abelian group $M = \mathbb{Z} \times \mathbb{Q}$. I claim that $R:=\text{End}(M)$ does not have any anti-endomorphism at all. EDIT: My previous proof is flawed. Thanks to Leon Lampret who pointed this out to me. The new proof shows that $R$ has several anti-endomorphisms, but no one is invertible. Thus $R$ is not isomorphic to $R^{\mathrm{op}}$.

Identify $R$ with the matrix ring $\begin{pmatrix} \mathbb{Z} & 0 \\\ \mathbb{Q} & \mathbb{Q} \end{pmatrix}$. The endomorphism ring of the underlying abelian group $\mathbb{Z} \times \mathbb{Q} \times \mathbb{Q}$ of $R$ can be identified with the matrix ring $\begin{pmatrix} \mathbb{Z} & 0 & 0 \\\ \mathbb{Q} & \mathbb{Q} & \mathbb{Q} \\\ \mathbb{Q} & \mathbb{Q} & \mathbb{Q} \end{pmatrix}$.

Assume an anti-endomorphism $\alpha$ of $R$ is given by such a matrix $\begin{pmatrix}a & 0 & 0 \\\ b & c & d \\\ e & f & g \end{pmatrix}$.

Then $\alpha(1)=1$ yields $a=1, b+d=0, e+g=1$. The determinant is $cg-df$. For all six-tuples $(u,v,w,p,q,r)$ (with $u,p$ integer) we have

$\alpha\left(\begin{pmatrix} u & 0 \\\ v & w \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} p & 0 \\\ q & r \end{pmatrix}\right) = \alpha \begin{pmatrix} p & 0 \\\ q & r \end{pmatrix} \alpha\begin{pmatrix} u & 0 \\\ v & w \end{pmatrix}$

which yields the three equations

1) $a^2 pu = pu$

2) $ap(bu + cv + dw) + (bp + cq + dr)(eu + fv + gw) = bpu + c(qu + rv) + drw$

3) $(ep + fq + gr)(eu + fv + gw) = epu + f(qu + rv) + grw$

If we plug in the three equations we already know from $\alpha(1)=1$, this simplifies of course. Now insert some tuples to get the following equations:

$(0,1,0,0,1,0) \leadsto f^2 = 0 \Rightarrow f = 0$

$(0,1,0,1,0,0) \leadsto c = 0$

This already shows that the determinant of $\alpha$ is zero, thus $\alpha$ cannot be bijective. But we can go even further:

$(1,0,0,1,0,0) \leadsto be=0 \wedge e^2=e \Rightarrow e \in \{0,1\}$

For $e = 0$ we get

$\alpha=\begin{pmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 \\\ b & 0 & -b \\\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}$

and for $e=1$ we get

$\alpha=\begin{pmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 \\\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\\ 1 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}$.

Here $b \in \mathbb{Q}$ may be chosen arbitrary. These are all anti-endomorphisms of $R$.

There is a more advanced proof that $R$ is not isomorphic to $R^{\mathrm{op}}$: Observe that $R$ is right noetherian, but not left noetherian.

To amplify on Bugs Bunny's answer: let $D$ be a finite dimensional central division algebra over a field $K$. Then $D \otimes_K D^{\operatorname{op}} \cong \operatorname{End}_K(D)$. From this it follows that in the Brauer group of $K$, the class of $D^{\operatorname{op}}$ is the inverse of the class of $D$. So a central division algebra over a field is isomorphic to its opposite algebra iff it has order $2$ in the Brauer group, or, in the lingo of that field, period $2$.

So you can get examples by taking any field $K$ with $\operatorname{Br}(K) \neq \operatorname{Br}(K)[2]$. In particular the Brauer group of any non-Archimedean locally compact field is $\mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z}$ and the Brauer group of any global field is close to being the direct sum of the Brauer groups of its completions (there is one relation, the so-called reciprocity law, which says that a certain "sum of invariants" map is zero). So for instance a division algebra of dimension $9$ over its center will do and these things can be constructed over the above fields.