The invention relates to para-aminophenol derivatives of formula (I), wherein X represents oxygen or an NH group; Y represents sulphur or a group (i)N-R , in which R represents hydrogen, a C1-C4 alkyl group, a C1-C4 monohydroxy alkyl group, a C2-C4 dihydroxy alkyl or a 2-hydroxy-5-aminobenzyl group, which can be substituted by the substituents R and R , which, independently of one another, represent hydrogen, C1-C4 alkyl, sulfonyl, C1-C4 monohydroxy alkyl, C2-C4 dihydroxy alkyl or halogen; R and R are defined as above; R represents hydrogen or a C1-C4 alkyl or aryl group; and A represents an ethylene or vinylene group. The invention also relates to the water-soluble salts of said derivatives. Said compounds are suitable for use as oxidation bases (developers) for producing oxidation colorants and oxidation colorants for keratin fibres, in particular for hair, which contain compounds of formula (I), preferably in combination with additional developer components and coupling components, and optionally direct colorants.