Infrared spectrum of CF2+ cation in a solid argon matrix

[Display omitted] •CF2+ cation was obtained and comprehensively characterized in solid Ar.•Absorptions of C-F stretching and F-C-F bending modes of CF2+ were first observed.•IR spectral features of CF2+ are in good agreement with ab initio calculations. The vibrational spectrum of CF2+ radical cation was first explicitly characterized by FTIR spectroscopy in an argon matrix. The radical cation was produced from X-ray radiolysis of difluoromethane isolated in solid argon at 6 K in the presence of electron scavengers. The assignment was made on the basis of ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)/L3a_3 level of theory. The absorptions at 1567.6 cm−1, 1379.4, and 613.8 cm−1 were assigned to antisymmetric and symmetric stretching, and bending modes of CF2+, respectively.