“Golden Age” of Homogeneous Catalysis Chemistry of Alkynes: Dimerization and Oligomerization of Alkynes

History of the development and use of homogeneous metal complex catalysts in the chemistry of acetylene and its derivatives is considered. Achievements of the catalytic chemistry of alkynes in the creation of affective catalytic systems (based on Groups 3—11 and 13 of the Periodic Table) for alkyne dimerization, capable of producing desired dimeric isomers possessing high chemo-, stereo- and regioselectivity are analyzed. The nature of elementary stages in four mechanisms of dimerization and the relations of the nature of organometallic intermediates to the nature of catalyst (metal and ligand), substrate, and type of mechanism, and, hence, to the selectivity of dimerization process are discussed.