Paper Title
Photoinduced UV Degradation of Matrix-Isolated 3-Chlorobenzaldehyde

Abstract
Halogenated organic compounds are used in the production of different types of materials, including pesticides. Due to their extensive use in the last decades, they have progressively become environment threatening chemical species. Chlorinated benzaldehydes are pollutants exhibiting carcinogenic properties, which represent an environmental risk because they are extremely stable toward acidic or basic hydrolysis and pyrolysis, as well as to biodegradation. On the other hand, they are known to be photochemically labile. Such characteristics make the investigation of the photodegradation of chlorinated benzaldehydes of great interest for environmental science. In this study, the unimolecularphotoinduced degradation of 3-chlorobenzaldeyde (3CBA) was investigated, for the isolated molecules of the compound trapped in a low-temperature argon matrix, using infrared spectroscopy. Decarbonylation was found to be the preferred photoinduced degradation pathway of 3CBA under matrix-isolation conditions, leading to formation of chlorobenzene. The analysis of the experimental data received support from quantum chemical calculations undertaken at the B3LYP/6-311++g(d,p) level of theory. Keywords - Halogenated organic compounds, Photodegradation, 3-Chlorobenzaldehyde, Matrix-isolationIR Spectroscopy.