A series of new urethane methacrylate (UMA) monomers were synthesized with the reaction of ethylene carbonate and aliphatic amines, followed by the reaction with methacrylic anhydride. The monomers were characterized by H-1, C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass (MS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. Urethane latexes were prepared by monomer-starved semibatch polymerization of the new urethane methacrylates with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA). A uniform morphology and a unimodal particle distribution were observed by a combination of dynamic light scattering (DLS), ultrasound acoustic attenuation spectroscopy (UAAS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermal stability, minimum film formation temperature (MFFT) and thermo-mechanical properties of the urethane latexes were also studied. The inclusion of urethane monomers appeared to have lowered the MFFT via a water plasticization effect, while enhancing the Tg of the final film properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.