Zero-kinetic-energy (ZEKE) spectra are presented for m-fluorotoluene, employing different low-lying (<350 cm −1 ) intermediate torsional and vibration-torsional ("vibtor") levels of the S 1 state. The adiabatic ionization energy (AIE) is found to be 71 997 ± 5 cm −1 (8.9265 ± 0.0006 eV). It is found that the activity in the ZEKE spectra varies greatly for different levels and is consistent with the assignments of the S 1 levels deduced in the recent fluorescence study of Stewart et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 150, 174303 (2019)]. For cation torsional levels, the most intense band corresponds to changes in the torsional quantum number, in line with the known change in the phase of the torsional potential upon ionization. This leads to the observation of an unprecedented number of torsions and vibtor levels, with the pronounced vibtor activity involving out-of-plane vibrations. Interactions between levels involving torsions are discussed, with evidence presented, for the first time it is believed, for modification of a torsional potential induced by a vibration. Also, we discuss the possibility of distortion of the methyl group leading to a change from G 6 molecular symmetry to Cs point group symmetry.

We investigate Duschinsky rotation/mixing between three vibrations for both m-fluorotoluene (mFT) and m-chlorotoluene (mClT), during electronic excitation and ionization. In the case of mFT, we investigate both the S1  S0 electronic transition and the D0 +  S1 ionization, using two-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence (2D-LIF) and zero-electron-kinetic energy (ZEKE) spectroscopy, respectively; for mClT, only the D0 +  S1 ionization was investigated, using ZEKE spectroscopy. The Duschinsky mixings are different in the two molecules, owing to shifts in vibrational wavenumber and variations in the form of the fundamental vibrations between the different electronic states. There is a very unusual behaviour for two of the mFT vibrations, where apparently different conclusions for the identity of two S1 vibrations arise from the 2D-LIF and ZEKE spectra. We compare the experimental observations to calculated Duschinsky matrices, finding that these successfully pick up the key geometric changes associated with each electronic transition, and so are successful in qualitatively explaining the vibrational activity in the spectra. Experimental values for a number of vibrations across the S0, S1 and D0 + states are reported and found to compare well to those calculated. Assignments are made for the observed vibration-torsion ("vibtor") bands, and the effect of the vibrational motion on the torsional potential is briefly discussed.