Valence and Rydberg excitations of 3-fluorotoluene in the 4.4–10.8 eV photoabsorption energy region

The absolute photoabsorption cross sections for 3-fluorotoluene in the 4.4–10.8 eV energy-range were obtained for the first-time using a synchrotron radiation light source. New theoretical calculations, providing vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths, were performed at the time-dependent density functional theory and the equation-of-motion coupled cluster method restricted to single and double excitations to qualitatively support the experimental data. The electronic transitions discernible in the photoabsorption spectrum have been assigned to valence, mixed valence-Rydberg and Rydberg transitions. Additionally, a comprehensive assignment of the vibronic structure was performed with the main contribution of C–H in plane bending mode progressions dictating the spectroscopy of the lowest-lying absorption band. From the absolute photoabsorption cross sections, the photolysis lifetimes of 3-fluorotoluene in the Earth's atmosphere were also obtained.