Fluorescent chemosensors containing redox-active ferrocene: a review

The redox-active ferrocene containing two cyclopentadienyl rings and iron was extensively employed in the field of sensing, catalysis, medicine, biotechnology etc., due to the structural stability, solubility in common solvents and easy structural modification to make a wide variety of ferrocene derivatives. The ferrocene moiety can be linked suitably with fluoro-chromogenic units and applied for the multichannel (fluorescent, chromogenic and redox) sensing of various bioactive and toxic analytes. This review was narrated to compile some important ferrocene based fluorescent chemosensors developed for the detection of metal ions, anions and neutral analytes. The analytical novelty and sensing mechanisms of the summarized chemosensors are discussed to open new scopes for future research.