Pre-treatment of coal with swelling solvents may enhance coal porosity and thus facilitate catalyst action. The yields of products obtained by coal liquefaction were very much dependent on the type of swelling solvent used. Those studied included ethanol, tetrahydrofurane (THF) and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAH). After this treatment coal was liquefied using ZnCl2 as catalyst, both alone and mixed with Fe2O3 or ICI 41-6 (Co-Mo). When ethanol was used, the highest coal conversion was obtained, although this solvent had the lowest swelling ratio, probably because a better catalyst impregnation was achieved. On the other hand, although the swelling ratio of TBAH was the greatest, lower overall coal conversions and higher oils yields were observed. In an attempt to interpret these results, coal structure before and after swelling pre-treatment was also studied using SEM.