Shenfu coal (SFC), its liquefaction residue (R-L), and carbon disulfide (CS2)/tetrahydrofuran (THF)-inextractable matter (R-E) were subject to ruthenium ion-catalyzed oxidation to understand the differences in structural features among the above three samples. The results suggest that SFC is rich in long-chain arylalkanes and alpha,omega-diarylalkanes (DAAs) with carbon number of methylene linkage from 2 to 4 and that long-chain arylalkanes and DAAs are reactive toward hydroliquefaction and soluble in a CS2/THF mixed solvent, whereas highly condensed aromatic species in SFC show poor solubility in the CS2/THF mixed solvent.