With the features of superparamagnetism, high selectivity, high adsorption and specific recognition, magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer is synthesized by molecular imprinting technique on the magnetic particle surface. Furthermore, it is a new type of polymeric material which achieves rapid separation and directional movement in external magnetic field. This paper describes three preparation methods for magnetic particles, including physical, chemical and templating methods, and molecular imprinting technique for magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer. Additionally, this paper discusses the research progress of the three polymerizations, which are suspension polymerization, emulsion polymerization and precipitation polymerization. Finally, we summarize the applications of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers in the analyses of pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metal residues and biomedicine aspects. It is demonstrated that magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer has great prospects in biomedical science, especially in the treatment of antibacterial disease. © 2016, Chemical Industry Press. All right reserved.
