Synthesis of bifunctional tin-based silica–carbon catalysts, Sn/KIT-1/C, with tunable acid sites for the catalytic transformation of glucose into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Catalytic transformation of carbohydrates to bio-chemicals such as 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has become a hot research topic, but development of cost-effective/efficient catalysts and processes remains a challenge for industrial application. In this study, efficient bifunctional Sn/KIT-1/C catalysts with controllable acid sites were synthesized and applied for glucose-to-HMF conversion. Strong Lewis acid sites were introduced into the framework of disordered mesoporous silica by liquid-phase grafting of tin chloride, and Bronsted acid sites were generated by inserting carbon into the mesopores, followed by controlled oxidation of the carbon. Characterizations revealed that optimizing the amount of carbon source, and carbonization and oxidation temperature provided a proper amount and strength of acidity that could significantly catalyze glucose dehydration reaction to HMF with suppressed byproducts formation. The best catalyst Sn/KIT-1/C(75–400-300) demonstrated superior catalytic performance at 175 °C for 2 h under THF/H₂O biphasic system, obtaining 78.4 ± 2.1% and 82.9 ± 2.4% HMF yield and selectivity, respectively. The high activity may be attributed to catalyst high surface area/porosity, and the presence of well-balanced amounts and strength of Lewis/Bronsted acid sites. The catalyst could maintain its excellent catalytic activity for five consecutive runs, suggesting the high physical–chemical stability of the catalyst. The results obtained in this work demonstrated that bifunctional metal-supported silica–carbon composites can be a promising catalyst for simple/complex carbohydrates conversion to HMF/bio-based chemicals. © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.