A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method for the assay of amodiaquine hydrochloride, chloroquine phosphate and primaquine phosphate is described. The method is based on the interaction of the drug with 7, 7, 8, 8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) as a π-electron acceptor, forming a highly coloured stable radical anion. The molecular ratios of the reactants in the complexes as well as the experimental conditions leading to maximum charge-transfer bands have been studied. Beer's Law is obeyed over aminoquinoline antimalarials concentration range of 0.4–4.0 ug.ml−1. The proposed procedure has been applied successfully to the analysis of antimalarials in their dosage forms and the results are in agreement with those of official methods.