To find a means for smoothly proceeding the coupling reaction of an aromatic halogenated compound to a terminal acetylene in the presence of a palladium-containing catalyst and a base to synthesize an aromatic acetylene compound in high yield compared with conventional method or a method free from phosphonium salt by adding a phosphonium salt in the system and to provide a method for the industrial production of an aromatic acetylene compound.

The production process comprises the coupling reaction in the presence of a phosphonium salt. The phosphonium salt is preferably tri(n-butyl) hexadecyl phosphonium bromide, tri(n-hexyl) hexadecyl phosphonium bromide, ethyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide, etc. The presence of the phosphonium salt drastically reduces the amount of the palladium-containing catalyst to 0.0001-0.005 mol per 1 mol of the aromatic halogenated compound to obtain an economically advantageous process for the production of an aromatic acetylene compound.