Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared by a sol-gel process, using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, tetraethyl orthosilicate and Fe3O4 nanoparticles as functional monomer, cross linker and magnetic component, respectively. Through the results of FTIR, XPS and SEM, it is found that modified Fe3O4 disperses well in the prepared magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers. MIPs show strong magnetic responsiveness and can be collected conveniently under the external magnetic field. The recognition capacity of the MIPs for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was investigated by equilibrium adsorption experiment and the binding amount of magnetic MIPs is up to 77 mmol/kg under the equilibrium state. The selective adsorption experiments using 3,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) as a structural analogue show that MIPs have the better adsorption affinity and selectivity for TNT than non imprinted polymers (NIPs).