Herein we introduce an effective approach for incorporating sulfamic acid (SA) into HKUST-1. The synthesized materials have been characterized using XRD, XPS, BET, FT-IR, SEM, EDX and TEM. The X-ray diffraction pattern of SA@HKUST-1 is analogous to that of parent HKUST-1 in line shape and d -spacing, proving that chemical modification could be obtained without damage to structural solidity. The XPS spectra confirmed successful sulfonation, due to the single S 2p peak being attributable to SO 3 H groups at 168 eV. Catalytic efficiency was studied for 7-hydroxy-4-methyl coumarin and 3,4-dihydropyrimidinone synthesis and it was found to be highly dependent on the amount of SA loaded over HKUST-1. Moreover, the adsorptive removal activity of some common organic and inorganic pollutants from water has been studied. To fully understand the adsorption process, the effects of initial dye concentration, pH of solution, adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature on the adsorption process were successfully studied. Under the optimum conditions 10 wt% SA@HKUST-1 was able to reach the maximum adsorption capacity for Pb 2+ (298 mg g −1 ) and Malachite green (290 mg g −1 ). Hopefully, this will facilitate research on improving the prospective use of MOFs for future applications. Herein we introduce an effective approach for incorporating sulfamic acid (SA) into HKUST-1.