In one of the lectures of my spectroscopy course, the professor claimed that there is a strong absorption band in the UV/Vis spectrum of bromine, associated with a singlet-state to triplet-state transition. He asked us to think about why this spin-forbidden transition occurs.
So far I haven't really come up with a satisfactory answer. Nevertheless, here are two of my ideas:
Broadly speaking, spin-forbidden does not necessarily mean that a transition is not observed, but rather that the intensity of the spectral line will be considerably diminished. Hence, a spin-forbidden transition could be observed in a spectrum.
An electronic transition is usually associated with a vibrational transition. Through the vibrational excitation the geometry of the molecule is changed such that the spin selection rules are "relaxed".
Am I on the right track with these ideas?