Magnetic ionic liquid monomers were synthesized and then polymerized to get magnetic polymer latexes and films. First, a series of 1-vinyl-3-dodecyl-imidazolium monomers having metal halides counter-anions such as FeCl3Br-, CoCl2Br-, and MnCl2Br- were synthesized. These ionic liquid monomers were first homopolymerized to lead to magnetic poly(ionic liquids) and characterized. Secondly, magnetic latexes were synthesized by using the magnetic ionic liquids as surfmers (surfactant+monomer) in the emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate/n-butyl acrylate. It was found that the powders obtained by freeze-drying the latexes pre-sented a paramagnetic behavior with weak antiferromagnetic interactions between the adjacent metal ions. Although the ratio of magnetic ionic liquid/monomer was only 2% these poly (methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) powders and latexes responded to a magnetic field due to the surfmer paramagnetic nature. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.