Fe-FER zeolites were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy of adsorbed CO and NO. Two aged samples (Fe-FER-1 and Fe-FER-4 with Fe content of 1.1 and 3.7 wt%, respectively) and one freshly prepared Fe-57 rich sample (Fe-57-FER, designed for Mossbauer studies and containing 1.5 wt% Fe) were studied. Both CO and NO are adsorbed onto Fe2+ cations and have different sensitivities to their location and/or coordination state. CO adsorption on Fe-FER-1 reveals two kinds of Fe2+ sites with the respective complexes observed at 2195 and 2189 cm(-1). The principal carbonyls (2195 cm(-1)) are easily converted into dicarbonyls (2188 cm(-1)) at low temperature and high CO equilibrium pressure. NO is less sensitive than CO to the environment of Fe2+ ions and NO adsorption gives rise to a single band at 1878 cm(-1). However, careful analysis reveals that this band consists of two closely located components. With the Fe-FER-4 sample a third family of iron sites was detected by CO at 2196 cm(-1). These carbonyl species are stepwise converted to di-(similar to 2188 cm(-1)) and tricarbonyls (similar to 2180 cm(-1)). With these sites NO forms another nitrosyls clearly detected at 1895 cm(-1). The latter are converted with time into polynitrosyls. These new sites are very sensitive to the preliminary treatment and easily change their oxidation state, forming Fe2+/Fe3+ redox couples. The sample preliminary treated with oxygen at 673 K is characterized by Fe3+-OH groups (3674 cm(-1)) and reactive oxygen that produces carbonates when reacting with CO, and NO+ when interacting with NO. Adsorption of NO on a freshly prepared Fe-57-FER sample confirms the presence of the three distinct Fe2+ sites which is consistent with Mossbauer data. Finally, summarizing all the data, location of the different sites inside the FER structure is proposed. The results obtained are discussed in relation with the catalytic performance of Fe-FER. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.