The vibronically excited but jet-cooled 2,3-dichlorobenzyl radical was generated from the corona discharge of precursor 2,3-dichlorotoluene seeded in a large amount of carrier gas He using a pinhole-type glass nozzle. From an analysis of the visible vibronic emission spectrum observed, we obtained the electronic energy of the D-1 -> D-0 transition and vibrational mode frequencies in the Do state of the 2,3-dichlorobenzyl radical by comparing the observation with the results of ab initio calculations. In addition, we discussed substituent effect of Cls on electronic transition energy in terms of substituent orientation for the first time. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.