Sn-Based Porous Coordination Polymer Synthesized with Two Ligands for Tandem Catalysis Producing 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a biomass-derived important platform compound. Developing an efficient catalyst for producing HMF from a biomass source is important. Herein, using the ligands 5-sulfoisophthalic acid (SPA) and imidazole (Imd), a tin-based porous coordination polymer was synthesized, namely SPA-Imd-TinPCP. This novel material possesses a multifunctional catalysis capability. The coordinated tin (IV) can catalyze the isomerization of glucose to fructose. The ligand imidazole, as an additional base site, can catalyze glucose isomerization. The sulfonic group of the ligand SPA can catalyze the dehydration of fructose to HMF. SPA-Imd-TinPCP was used as a catalyst for the conversion of glucose to HMF. HMF yields of 59.5% in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 49.8% in the biphasic solvent of water/tetrahydrofuran were obtained. Consecutive use of SPA-Imd-TinPCP demonstrated that, after reusing it five times, there was no significant activity loss in terms of the glucose conversion and HMF yield.