Industrially, it is produced by the carbonylation of methylene chloride, oxidation of vinylidene chloride, or the addition of chlorine to ketene. It may be prepared from chloroacetic acid and thionyl chloride, phosphorus pentachloride, or phosgene.

Chloroacetyl chloride is bifunctional—the acyl chloride easily forms esters and amides, while the other end of the molecule is able to form other linkages, e.g. with amines. The use of chloroacetyl chloride in the synthesis of lidocaine is illustrative: