The characteristic studies, by means of LR, UV-Vis and XPS spectroscopies, of the preparation process of Mo-Co-Sand Mo-Fe-Scatalysts for HDS and HDN, derived from (NH
4)
2MoS
4-CoCl
2and (NH
4)
2MoS
4-FeCl
2complexes supported on γ-Al
2O
3, respectively, indicate that the catalytically essential moiety on the surface of the catalysts is dominantly some sulfido-bimetallic species with such a structural unit
(M'=Co or Fe), and both Co and Fe, served as promoters, can donate electrons to Mo probably via bridging-S. The nature of active-sites and the mechanism of promotion are discussed according to the results.