For comparative purposes, two series of pyrolyzed photoresist film (PPF) substrates are prepd. with and without reductive conditions, i.e. in the presence and absence of H2. Electrochem. and XPS analyses show that PPF substrates prepd. in the absence of H2 possess many more surface oxygen functional groups, mostly hydroxyl groups, than PPF prepd. under reductive conditions. These oxidized PPF samples can be advantageously involved in an SN1 reaction to covalently bind ferrocenyl groups to the surface as (sub-)monolayers.