Three iron-containing AlPO4-5 molecular sieve catalysts (i.e. FeAlPO-5-Iono, FeAlPO-5-Hydro and FeAlPO-5-Imp) were prepared by ionothermal synthesis, direct hydrothermal synthesis and impregnation method, and characterized by various techniques. N-2 adsorption/desorption measurements, together with the results of SEM and TEM, showed that FeAlPO-5-Iono was a new type of aluminophosphate molecular sieve with hierarchical micro- and meso-porous structure, whereas both FeAlPO-5-Hydro and FeAlPO-5-Imp were typical microporous materials. DR UV-Vis analysis suggested that the order of the amounts of isolated Fe3+ species in these three samples was as follows: FeAlPO-5-Hydro > FeAlPO-5-Iono > FeAlPO-5-Imp. However, the order of their catalytic performances towards phenol hydroxylation was in opposition to that of the amounts of isolated Fe3+ species. Detailed analysis revealed that it was textural properties of these catalysts that determined phenol conversion and dihydroxylbenzene selectivity. The catalyst-recycling tests suggested that extra-framework iron clusters were readily leached into the reaction system and had great influence on the hydroxylation of phenol. Due to the sole presence of isolated Fe3+ species and enhanced mass transport of reactants and products to/from these active sites, FeAlPO-5-Hydro was found to have the best reusability among these catalysts. .