N-methylimidazole-functionalized gold nanoparticles as catalysts for cleavage of a carboxylic acid ester

New N-methylimidazole-functionalized gold clusters 2 catalyze, in 6:4 methanol-water solution, the cleavage of 2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate with more than an order of magnitude rate acceleration with respect to acetyl-N-methylhistamine 3; comparison with dodecanoyl-N-methylhistamine 4 comicellized with Brij 35 reveals that 2 is still a better catalyst than the comicellar system and highlights analogies and differences between the two systems.