Coal is electrophilically aromatically substituted (i.e., alkylated or acylated) in the presence of an alkylating or acylating agent with or without a catalyst under mild conditions to give a treated coal product. This treated coal product may then be solvent extracted to give an extract and an upgraded coal residue, with this residue being subjected to a gasification process procedure or the treated coal product may be subjected to gasification process procedures without any prior extraction being performed. By means of either technique, a material is prepared for which the rate of gasification and the yield of desired product upon gasification is dramatically increased when compared with nonelectrophilically aromatically substituted material (i.e., raw coal). An improved gasification process is disclosed comprising the steps of electrophilically aromatically substituting coal and subjecting such pretreated coal, either extracted or unextracted to gasification process techniques.