We investigated the use of a novel organic compound, 1,4,5,8-tetrahydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone (THAQ), and its oxidized product (O-THAQ) as cathode materials for lithium batteries. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) and charge-discharge tests of the two materials showed that during the discharge process a carbonyl-lithium enolate transformation and a hydroxyl-lithium enolate transformation occurred and the former reaction was reversible. The initial and 20th cycle capacities of O-THAQ were 250 and 100 mAh·g-1, respectively. These values were higher than those for THAQ, which showed that pre-oxidizing THAQ effectively improved its electrochemical performance. We propose a reason for this improvement.