The low-pressure chem. vapor deposition of copper and platinum was studied on SiO2 substrates which had been locally prenucleated with ultrathin metal layers of Pt, Cu, Pd, Au, and W. These layers were between 0.1 and 30 .ANG. thick and were produced by vacuum evapn. Copper metal is deposited selectively on top of the prenucleation layers from gaseous bishexafluoroacetylacetonate {Cu(hfa)2} dild. in hydrogen. High-quality copper could be grown at temps. in the range of 300-400 Deg with elec. resistivities as low as 2.5 times the bulk copper value. In contrast, platinum deposited from gaseous Pt(hfa)2 in H2 grows selectively on clean oxide surface rather than on the areas prenucleated with vacuum evapd. platinum.