I think both react with each other forming acetic acid, acetyl chloride and evolution of some HCl gas with explosion. It is also possible that HCl contains about 63 or 64% of water, which will react with acetic anhydride forming acetic acid. Or, if acetyl chloride is produced by the reaction of acetic anhydride with hydrogen chloride, what about the water?
Acetic anhydride reacts with HCl in a violent exothermic reaction as the equation shows: (CH3CO)2O + HCl → CH3COCl + CH3CO2H (acetyl chloride + acetic acid).
Concentrated HCl is usually 32% or 36% which means that the water content is 68% or 64%. Water alone "can" split acetic anhydride into acetic acid (each molecule of the anhydride gives 2 molecules of the acid), but water cannot compete with HCl in the above reaction.
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