We have measured the infrared absorption spectrum of C
6H
5,
2A
1, in an Ar matrix at 10 K. Theexperimental frequencies (cm
-1) and polarizations follow. a
1 modes: 3086, 3072, 3037, 1581, 1441, 1154,1027, 997, 976, 605; b
1 modes: 972, 874, 706, 657, 416; b
2 modes: 3071, 3060, 1624, 1432, 1321, 1283,1159, 1063, and 587. Three different methods have been used for the production of the phenyl radicals. Infraredabsorption spectra of five deuterated isotopomers, C
6D
5,
p-C
6H
4D,
p-C
6HD
4,
o-C
6H
4D, and
m-C
6H
4D, wererecorded to compare experimental frequency shifts with calculated (UB3LYP/cc-pVDZ) harmonic frequencyshifts. The use of CO
2 or NO as internal standards enabled the experimental determination of absolute infraredintensities. The linear dichroism was measured with photooriented samples to establish experimental polarizationsof each vibrational band. True gas-phase vibrational frequencies were estimated by considering the gas-to-matrix shifts and matrix inhomogeneous line broadening. The phenyl radical matrix frequencies listed aboveare within ±1% of the gas-phase vibrational frequencies. The C
6H
5 frequencies from this paper supersede ourearlier values reported in
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996,
118, 7400-7401. See also: http://
ellison.colorado.edu/phenyl.