Matrix Isolation Study of the 193 nm Excimer Laser Photochemistry of Hexafluorobenzene

193 nm excimer laser irradiation of Ar/C6F6 samples during deposition onto a cryogenic surface has led to the formation and isolation of a range of products, the dominant being hexafluoro-Dewar benzene. Additional absorptions likely due to the previously unreported hexafluorobenzvalene were observed, along with extensive fragmentation and additional minor products. When either Cl2 or CCl4 was doped into the Ar/C6F6 sample as an electron trap, a number of additional product bands were noted. A few of these were destroyed by subsequent Hg arc irradiation, and at least one is tentatively assigned to the C6F6+ cation. A comparison to previous studies of the photochemistry of C6F6 is made.