Six amine-linked thioxanthones, i.e., 2-(2-hydroxy-3-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-amino]propoxy)thioxanthone (HAPTX) and its 4-methyl, 1,3-dimethyl, 1,4-dimethyl, 3,4-dimethyl, and 1,3,4-trimethyl substituted derivatives, were synthesized as water-compatible photoinitiators and identified with FTIR, MS, NMR, and elementary analysis. The absorption and fluorescence properties were studied. Their photoinitiating polymerization efficiencies were tested with a recording dilatometer utilizing acrylamide as monomer in aqueous solution. The results show that the six amine-linked thioxanthones can independently initiate acrylamide polymerization efficiently without additional external amines as co-initiators.