The direct amination of some quinones promoted by metal salts was developed as a substitute for the Ullmann amination to prepare aminoquinone dyes. α-Aminoanthraquinones reacted readily with alkylamines to give 4- (or 2, 4-bis) aminated products. 2-Alkylamination of quinizarin proceeded quantitatively in the presence of copper chlorides. Possible mechanism, which involves the formation of the metal complexes followed by a nucleophilic attack of amines, was studied in details. The direct photo-aminations of some quinones were also studied. A number of new aminoanthraquinones and aminonaphthoquinones as dye were synthesized by both the metal-promoted direct amination and the direct photo-amination.