Dissociative ionization of methanol induced by ultrashort laser pulses has been studied at wavelengths of 400 nm and 800 nm with moderate intensity (10(12-13) W/cm(2)). The laser power dependence of ionic species shows that multi photon ionization causes an excitation with a total energy from I I to 15 eV. Comparing the current results with those of conventional VUV photodissociation experiments, we conclude that the molecules are excited to the X, A, B and C states of the ion, resulting in the CH4O+, CH3O+, CH3+ and CHO+ ions, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.