<p>Catalytic transformation of glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a potential furanic molecule, generally requires a Lewis and Brønsted acid-containing catalyst, which can catalyse glucose isomerisation to fructose and followed by dehydration to HMF. Thus, the present study focuses on synthesising a series of Sn-containing modified ZSM-5 catalysts possessing both Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites. The parent H-ZSM-5 (H-Z) is desilicated using an aqueous solution of 0.5&#xa0;M of LiOH at various times (60, 120 and 180&#xa0;min), enhancing the generation of mesoporous, thus improving the accessibility of active sites in the cavities of the zeolites. Sn incorporated on desilicated H-Z (SnZS) provides enhanced Lewis acidity, favouring the glucose isomerisation step to form fructose. 4 wt% of Sn loading on H-Z desilicated for 120&#xa0;min (Sn₄ZS₁₂₀) has higher surface area (444 m²/g), mesopore volume (0.562 cm³/g) and total pore volume (0.674 cm³/g) than the parent H-Z (422 m²/g, 0.122 cm³/g and 0.279 cm³/g). XPS spectra of Sn₄ZS₁₂₀ show more than 95.0% of Sn in the tetrahedral form, suggesting the incorporation of Sn in the framework. Sn₄ZS₁₂₀ exhibits 1.2 and 1.7 times higher amounts of weak and medium-strong acidic sites than the parent H-Z catalyst. NH₃-DRIFT reveals that Sn₄ZS₁₂₀ possesses a large amount of Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites along with stronger Lewis acid strength than the parent H-Z. Sn₄ZS₁₂₀ catalyst yields 1.6 and 1.5 times higher HMF yield than the parent H-Z and Sn₄H-Z catalysts, indicating the role of modification and Sn species located in the framework, respectively. Sn₄ZS₁₂₀ also shows good catalytic activity for the dehydration of other carbohydrates (mannose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, cellobiose, and inulin) to HMF.</p>