Research advances in the synthesis and applications of ferrocene‐based electro and photo responsive materials

Individually, ferrocene and photochromic materials have several important attributes and applications. Ferrocene is a promising candidate of stimuli‐responsive materials due to its electronic, electrochemical and magnetic properties. On the same lines, photo‐sensitive materials are also an important class of stimuli‐responsive materials which can be modified according to the needs. Recently, a lot of keen attention has been given to the combination of ferrocene with different photo‐sensitive moieties to get novel functional materials. This review illustrates the research advances in the combination of ferrocene‐based small molecules, self‐assembled monolayers and polymers with photo‐responsive compounds and their potential applications.