The crystal structure of 1,2- phenylene phosphorochloridate has been determined. X-Ray irradiation of these crystals, at low temperature, leads to the formation of a radical exhibiting hyperfine structure with P and Cl nuclei. The corresponding ESR tensors are obtained, and they show that this radical is a phosphoranyl radical adopting a slightly distorded σ* structure. The same species could be produced in frozen solution, its hyperfine tensors are, then, more in accordance with a trigonal-bipyramid structure. The effects of the host matrix on the stabilization of the structure of phosphoranyl are investigated.