Four ferrocenyl Schiff bases were synthesized from ferrocenecarboxaldehyde and aromatic amine. The yields were 46-73%. These compounds have a D-A structure and third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the compounds were measured using femtosecond degenerate four-wave mixing. The third-order NLO susceptibilities of the compounds were 2.21-3.32 x 10(-13) esu. The second-order hyperpolarizabilities of the molecules were 2.10-3.15 x 10(-31) esu. The response times were 42-63 fs. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.