Gold Catalysis

Gold has been seen as the most precious metal for thousands of years and is the basis of most monetary systems throughout the world. Gold occurs naturally in its elemental form and owing to its low reactivity, can be mined directly from the earth, leading to prospecting and the ¿gold-rush¿ observed in the latter part of the 19th century. It was used by ancient civilisations in some of their most important artefacts as representation of wealth and gods. Today the Mayan art or Egyptian burial masks look as beautiful as when they were first cast, emphasising the resilience and inertness of metallic gold. Due to the unreactive and durable nature of metallic gold it has been used in dentistry and more recently in electronics as it is also highly conductive to electricity. One might even say that the pursuit of gold was the catalyst for modern chemistry with the early alchemists generating vast amounts of knowledge, most of which is still relevant today.