This work reveals the preponderance of an intramolecular metal chelation phenomenon in a controlled radical polymerization system involving the reversible trapping of the radical chains by a cobalt complex, i.e. the bis(acetylacetonato)cobalt(II). The cobalt-mediated radical polymerization (CMRP) of a series of N-vinyl amides was considered in order to evidence the effect of the cobalt chelation by the amide moiety of the last monomer unit of the chain. The latter reinforces the cobalt-polymer bond in the order N-vinylpyrrolidone