The novel water-soluble and sterically hindered phthalocyanine complexes, i.e. iron(III) tetra-(4-carboxyphenoxy)phthalocyanine (3) and iron(III) tetra-(8-quinolineoxy-5-sulfonicacid)phthalocyanine (4) were synthesized for fast detection of phenolic pollutants. These two FePc complexes exhibited the high catalytic activity in the chromogenic reactions of phenolic pollutants. Five phenolic substrates, including phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and 1-naphthol could be efficiently oxidized by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of these selected FePc catalyst. UV-Vis spectroscopy and HPLC technique were used to monitor the catalyzed oxidation of phenolic substrates. Compared with catalytic methods by other reported phthalocyanines, this system has the obvious advantages of fast oxidation and high-yield conversion of phenolic substrates. Under the optimal conditions, the chromogenic process of 2-chlorophenol could be completed just within 10 min with more than 90 % of conversion. Potentially, this system is promising for the application of fast chromogenic identification of phenolic pollutants. .