Magnetic mesoporous materials, as a family of novel functional nanomaterials, have attracted increasing attention due to their unique properties. Much work has been done to synthesize these materials and to explore applications in various fields, such as catalysis, separation, hyperthermia, drug delivery, and MR imaging. This Letter reviews the synthesis approaches, which can be grouped into three categories, i.e. sol-gel coating, post-loading, and nanocasting approaches. Emphasis is placed on the elucidation of the design principles, synthesis strategies and the properties-applications relationship of the mesoporous materials. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.