Complex [ t BuOCO]W^C( t Bu)(THF) 2 (1) {where t BuOCO ¼ [2,6-( t BuC 6 H 3 O) 2 C 6 H 3 ] 3À , THF ¼ tetrahydrofuran} polymerizes acetylenes (R-phenylacetylene (R ¼ H, p-OMe, p-F, 3,5-diCF 3 ), 1-decyne, 3,3-dimethyl-1-butyne, and trimethylsilylacetylene) to form p-conjugating polymers. Upon treating 1 with 2 equiv. of phenylacetylene in toluene-d 8 at À35 C, two isolable products form. These two products are 4À } and derived from an apparent reductive alkylidyne migratory insertion into a metal-arene bond. Complexes 2-t Bu and 2-Ph polymerize acetylene and a wide variety of monosubstituted acetylenes including phenylacetylene derivatives, 1-decyne, 3,3-dimethyl-1-butyne and trimethylsilylacetylene. With a substrate to catalyst loading ratio of 25 000 : 1, complex 2-t Bu polymerizes phenylacetylene with a turnover number (TON) of 17 233. Additionally, 2-t Bu polymerizes phenylacetylene and 1-decyne with catalytic activities up to 5.64 Â 10 6 g PPA mol À1 h À1 and 7.98 Â 10 6 g PA mol À1 h À1 , respectively. 2-t Bu also polymerizes the disubstituted acetylene, 1-phenyl-1-propyne. NMR spectroscopic and single crystal X-ray structural studies provide compelling evidence for polymer chain growth via an insertion ring-expansion mechanism.