Molecular precursors can be transformed into functional thin films using vapor deposition (CVD), spray pyrolysis, or spin coating. Depending on the manufacturing process chosen, the granularity, crystallinity, and phase of the obtained layer vary. This has a direct effect on the physical properties, such as photocatalytic activity, magnetizability, and hardness. By using suitable molecular precursors, which we produce in our laboratories, we have the option of producing coatings of metastable or kinetically stabilized phases and checking their composition and functionality. Thanks to the lively exchange between synthesis and materials chemists in the Mathur group, we can investigate the chemical transformation processes from molecule to material in depth.