  We investigate the curvature-dependence of water dynamics in the vicinity of
hydrophobic spherical solutes using molecular dynamics simulations. For both,
the lateral and perpendicular diffusivity as well as for H-bond kinetics of
water in the first hydration shell, we find a non-monotonic solute-size
dependence, exhibiting extrema close to the well-known structural crossover
length scale for hydrophobic hydration. Additionally, we find an apparently
anomalous diffusion for water moving parallel to the surface of small solutes,
which, however, can be explained by topology effects. The intimate connection
between solute curvature, water structure and dynamics has implications for our
understanding of hydration dynamics at heterogeneous biomolecular surfaces.
