Daliuta subbituminous coal (DL), loaded with Fe-2(MoS4)(3) bimetallic catalyst, was liquefied in a 50 ml micro-autoclave with tetralin as solvent at 440degreesC, initial hydrogen of 6.0 MPa, soaking time of 30 min in attempt to produce one to four ring aromatic chemicals. The catalytic effects of in situ impregnated Fe-2(MoS4)(3) in water solution with and without surfactant were investigated in terms of coal conversion, oil + gas yield and the yields of aromatic, aliphatic and polar compound fractions in the oil. The conversion, oil + gas, aromatics and polar compound yields of DL coal, loaded with 1 wt% daf FeMo of Fe-2(MoS4)(3) bimetallic catalyst, were 78.2, 70.5, 20.8 and 16.7 wt% daf, respectively, which were higher than those with 1.0 wt% Fe (based on daf coal) of Fe2S3 (62.6, 54.2, 13.4, 13.2 wt% daf, respectively) or 1.0 wt% Mo of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (70.8, 63.2, 16,7, 14.1 wt% daf, respectively) alone under the same conditions. When the catalyst was impregnated on coal in surfactant solution, the coal conversion and product yields were further increased. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.