Dihydridocarbonyltris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium, activated with a stoichiometric amount of styrene, catalyzes the hydrosilylation polymerization of dimethylsilyloxyaryl ketones or aldehydes as well as the copolymerization of aromatic alpha,omega-diketones and oligo-alpha,omega-dihydridodimethylsiloxanes to yield poly(silyl ethers). The ruthenium catalyzed addition of Si-H bonds across C-O double bonds to form CH-O-Si bonds is key to the polymerizations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.