Dehydrogenative coupling reactions of bis(hydrosilyl)benzenes with [Ru-3(CO
)(12)] afford moderate yields of the polymers [-SiRR'-Ru(CO)(4)-Ru(CO)(4)-S
iRR'-C6H4-](n) which exhibit large solvent-dependent change of the UV-VIS s
pectra. The absorption maximum of the polymer is markedly red-shifted, comp
ared with monomeric complex [PhMe2SiRu(CO)(4)-Ru(CO)(4)SiMe2Ph].