This work presents new experimental data of C 2 H 2 low-temperature oxidation for equivalence ratios Φ= 0.5–3.0 in a newly designed jet-stirred reactor over a temperature range of 600–1100K at atmospheric pressure with residence time corresponding from 1.94 to 1.06s. Mole fraction profiles of 17 intermediates including aromatic compounds such as toluene, styrene and ethylbenzene were quantified. A detailed kinetic mechanism involving 295 species and 1830 reactions was established to predict the oxidation of C 2 H 2 and formation of PAH. In developing the mechanism, particular attention was paid to reactions of the vinyl radical and to steps involved in the sequence C 2 H 2 →iC4H5→fulvene→C 5 H 5 CH 2 →C 6 H 6 . In general, the peak concentrations of intermediates gradually increase and peak locations tend to shift toward high temperatures with Φ increasing. Flux analysis indicates that the addition of H and the reaction with O are the two major channels governing C2H2 consumption. At temperatures below 1000K, benzene is mainly formed through the C 2 +C 4 channels:C 2 H 2 +iC 4 H 5 →fulvene→C 5 H 5 CH 2 isomers→C 6 H 6 .The C 1 +C 5 pathway: CH 3 +C 5 H 5 →C 5 H 5 CH 3 →(fulvene and C 5 H 5 CH 2 radicals)→C 6 H 6 tends to be the dominant route for benzene formation at temperatures above 1000K. In addition to the present data, the model predicts well ignition delay times reported in literature.