Observation of vibronic emission spectrum of jet-cooled 3,5-difluorobenzyl radical.

We applied the technique of corona-excited supersonic expansion using a pinhole-type glass nozzle to observe the vibronic emission spectrum of jet-cooled benzyl-type radicals from the corona discharge of precursor 3,5-difluorotoluene seeded in a large amount of inert helium carrier gas. The vibronically well-resolved emission spectrum was recorded with a long-path monochromator in the visible region. After subtracting the vibronic bands originating from isomeric difluorobenzyl radicals from the observed spectrum, we identified for the first time the bands belonging to the 3,5-difluorobenzyl radical, from which the electronic energy and vibrational mode frequencies of the 3,5-difluorobenzyl radical were accurately determined in the ground electronic state by comparison with those of the precursor and with those from an ab initio calculation.