The chemistry of coordination complexes in the solid state has been investigated with a view towards developing new methods and processes for the deposition of materials. The processes investigated include the development of spin on metals and photolithographic deposition methods. In the spin on metal process a film of an appropriate complex is spin cast and thermalized to deposit the requisite metal. For photolithographic deposition a precursor film is deposited. Ultraviolet exposure of the films through an optical/UV lithography mask results in the patterning of materials in the exposed regions. The development of this method requires photochemically active complexes which efficiently eject ligands upon photolysis to produce the desired material in a solid state thin film. A generic reaction for the production of metal films is illustrated in equation 1. MLn(thin film) (Delta )hvyields M(thin film)+ n L(g). In this paper the thermal, photo and electron beam induced chemistry of thin films of inorganic complexes of lead and chromium is presented.