The effect of ultrasound at 20 kHz on the heterogeneous aqueous hydrogenation of 3-buten-2-ol employing a Pd-black catalyst has been studied isothermally at 295 K, forming 2-butanone and 2-butanol products. Our work here shows that adding 1-pentanol as an inert dopant had the effect of inducing cavitation in the ultrasound-treated reaction where it otherwise would not occur. The selectivity showed a 700% increase toward 2-butanol formation and the activity enhanced a factor of 10.8 compared to the noncavitating high-power ultrasound experiment. This study demonstrates that "inert dopants" may have use as synthetic tools in sonocatalysis. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.