The liquefaction behaviour of a series of solvents in coal liquefaction both without catalyst and with two catalysts, red mud (an Fe2O3 catalyst) and CZMFA2 (a CoZnMo/Al2O3) catalyst, was evaluated. Three II-donor solvents (tetralin, 9,10-DHA and 1,2,3,4-THQ), three non-donor solvents (naphthalene, anthracene and phenantrene) and two industrial type solvents (anthracene oil and creosote oil) were tested. The experiments were conducted in a 250 ml autoclave, with 10 g of a subbituminous A coal, 30 g of solvent, 425 degrees C, 17 MPa operating pressure, 1 hour reaction time and 400 rpm stirring speed. The liquefaction products were fractionated into oils, asphaltenes and preasphaltenes using pentane, toluene and THF as extractive solvents. The behaviour of a solvent is greatly influenced by the type of catalyst used and viceversa, the catalyst effect depends on the solvent utilized. Industrial type solvents can give better coal conversions than strong H-donor solvents if appropriate catalysts are used.