Methods are provided for forming aromatic compounds from a highly unsaturated aliphatic feeds optionally in combination with methanol. The method can include dehydrogenating a feed containing at least about 50 vol % C1-C4 alkanes under dehydrogenation conditions to form a dehydrogenation effluent containing at least about 25 vol % alkynes. Alternatively, other sources of alkyne-containing feeds can be used. At least a portion of the alkyne-containing feed can then be converted under effective conversion conditions to form a conversion effluent comprising a hydrocarbon product containing aromatic compounds.