It is shown that in the orbitally degenerate ground state of the benzene negative ion there is a first-order electron spin-orbit interaction associated with the electronic orbital motion around the ring. This first-order interaction may be as large as a few cm—1 and can give rise to enhanced electron spin-lattice relaxation in solution even though most of the time the electronic orbital motion is strongly quenched by electrostatic interaction with the solvent.
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Harden M. McConnell (1961) studied this question.