The precursor 2,6-dichlorotoluene seeded in a large amount of carrier gas He was electrically discharged and expanded through a pinhole-type glass nozzle to generate the jet-cooled 2,6-dichlorobenzyl radical in a corona excited supersonic expansion. The visible emission spectrum of the jet-cooled 2,6-dichlorobenzyl radical in the D-1 -> D-0 transition was recorded for the first time. The excited electronic energy and several vibrational mode frequencies in the ground electronic state were determined from the analysis of the spectrum by comparing with those of 2,6-dichlorotoluene as well as those from an ab initio calculation. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.