Publisher Summary This chapter reviews coal as a raw material, which is mainly used for the generation of power and in the iron and steel industry. Coal and its byproducts are also used in alumina refineries, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and in other areas such as the manufacture of paper. It is defined that to obtain chemicals from coal, several strategies are reported that include: gasification followed by a sequence of carbon chemistry processes, the conversion of coal via carbonization, pyrolysis, or liquefaction to liquids and tars followed by the conversion of the components of these derived products to higher value products, the direct conversion of coals to chemicals or materials, and the coproduction of chemicals or materials and fuels along with electricity. The chapter is mainly devoted to solid carbon materials derived from coal and coal byproducts, in which the conventional methods of coal petrology play an important role. Other coal-derived materials such as those obtained from the combustion, gasification, liquefaction, and carbonization processes are also described.