The Vilsmeier reagent (VR), first reported a century ago, is a versatile reagent in a variety of organic reactions. It is used extensively in formylation reactions. However, the synthesis of VR generally requires highly toxic and corrosive reagents such as POCl 3 , SOCl 2 , or COCl 2 . In this study, we found that VR is readily obtained from a CHCl 3 solution containing N,Ndimethylformamide or N,N-dimethylacetamide upon photoirradiation under O 2 bubbling. The corresponding Vilsmeier reagents were obtained in high yields with the generation of gaseous HCl and CO 2 as byproducts to allow their isolations as crystalline solid products amenable to analysis by X-ray crystallography. With the advantage of using CHCl 3 , which bifunctionally serves as a reactant and a solvent, this photo-on-demand VR synthesis is available for one-pot syntheses of aldehydes, acid chlorides, formates, ketones, esters, and amides.