The oxidation of benzene to phenol (BTOP) with N 2 O as the oxidant has been studied with a variety of Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts. The literature has conclusively proven that Fe 2+ sites are the active sites. However, some studies have suggested that the Lewis acidic sites (LAS) are responsible for the generation of the active chemisorbed oxygen. Nevertheless, there is no clear relationship between the LAS and the N 2 O selectivity to phenol. In an effort to elucidate the effects of LAS on BTOP with various ZSM-5 catalysts, we investigated the initial N 2 O selectivity to phenol. Here we show that the initial N 2 O selectivity to phenol is negative with the amount of LAS over a certain range. The catalyst H-ZSM-5-ST (H-ZSM-5 treated with water vapor) showed a remarkable initial N 2 O selectivity to phenol as high as 95.9% with a 0.021 mmol g −1 LAS concentration on the surface of the catalyst, while the Fe/ZSM-5 catalyst demonstrated the lowest initial N 2 O selectivity to phenol (11.7%) with the highest LAS concentration (0.137 mmol g −1 ). Another remarkable feature is that steaming was more effective than Fe ion exchange and high temperature calcining. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), N 2 -adsorption-desorption, UV-vis, NH 3 -TPD and pyridine Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) techniques. Our results demonstrate how the concentration of LAS is likely to affect the initial N 2 O selectivity to phenol within a certain range (0.021-0.137 mmol g −1 ). This research has demonstrated the synergy between the active Fe 2+ sites and LAS.