Chemical vapour deposition polymerisation of substituted [2.2]paracyclophanes is applied to the functienalised coating of stainless steel surfaces. Poly[o-trifluoroacetyl-p-xylylene-co-p-xylylene] (2a), poly[o-hydroxymethyl-p-xylylene-co-p-xylylene] (2b), poly[o-amino-p-xylylene-co-p-xylylene] (2c) and poly(p-xylylene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride) (2d) were deposited as thin layers.