1-Arylazo-substituted 2-naphthylamines, which are easily obtainable by the coupling of arene diazonium salts with 2-aminonaphthalene-sulfonic acid, can be transformed by reaction with reactive carboxylic acid derivatives or nitrosation reagents into novel 2-aryl-sub-stituted naphtho[2,1-e][1,2,4] triazinium and naphtho[2,1-e] [1,2,3,4]tetrazinium salts, respectively.