The rotationally resolved excitation spectrum of the S1 ← S0 electronic transition of the chiral molecule 1-phenylethanol is measured via laser-induced fluorescence detection in a cold, seeded molecular beam. The rotational constants and structure of the S1 state are determined by fitting 419 spectral lines. The transition dipole moment is found to have predominant projections along the b and a inertial axes with only a small contribution along the c-axis, in agreement with ab initio calculations. Using two-color (1 + 1′) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization the S1 excited state lifetime is determined as 70 ± 18 ns.
