Highly ordered Pt-containing mesoporous carbons (Pt-OMCs) have been synthesized by a multi-component co-assembly method followed by pyrolysis at high temperature. In this synthesis, resorcinol, formaldehyde and chloroplatinic acid were used as the carbon and Pt precursors. The triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 was used as the template. X-ray diffraction, N2-adsorption measurements and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the Pt nanoparticles in about 1–3 nm were embedded in the highly ordered mesostructure carbon. The Pt3.1-OMC was used as the catalyst in the hydrogenation of toluene. By comparing with the traditional impregnated 3.3Pt/OMC catalyst to our catalyst, Pt3.1-OMC, the sample exhibited a much higher selectivity to methylcyclohexane.Highlights► Pt-OMC was obtained by a one-pot aqueous self-assembly soft templating route. ► The Pt nanoparticles in about 1-3 nm were imbedded in the Pt-OMC. ► Pt-OMC showed much higher selectivity to MCH than Pt/OMC in toluene hydrogenation.