Fig. 1
From: The key role of Au-substrate interactions in catalytic gold subnanoclusters
Hydration of alkynes catalyzed by Au(0) subnanoclusters. a Markovnikov hydration of alkynes in refluxing methanol catalyzed by Au(0) subnanoclusters of different sizes. b Kinetics of phenylacetylene (4) hydration catalyzed by Au(0) subnanoclusters generated from 4 and 2% mol of AuCl and AuCl(PPh)3, showing that 4% mol AuCl is the most efficient precatalyst. c, d Kinetics of 1-hexyne (1) and 1-dodecyne (2) and benzylacetylene (3) hydration catalyzed by Au(0) subnanoclusters generated from 4 and 2% mol of AuCl, compared to those of phenylacetylene (4). A much higher reaction rate is observed for medium to long aliphatic and aromatic alkynes. The drastic loss of catalytic activity observed for aliphatic alkynes with 2% precatalyst after ca. ~3 h suggests decomposition of the Au(0) subnanoclusters
