The present invention involves the formation of titanium carbonate films that exhibit improved hydrolytic stability and photosensitivity. Such films can be used in semiconductor processing to deposit titanium and titanium oxide layers on a substrate and to form patterns without the use of photoresists. Preferred titanium carboxylates are non-branched and branched carboxylates wherein the alkoxide component is an alcohol, branched titanium carboxylates wherein the alkoxide component is a diol, non-branched and branched titanium alpha hydroxy carboxylate compounds, and titanium dicarboxylate compounds.