Rotationally resolved infrared spectra are reported for the X–HCN (X = Cl, Br, I) binary complexes solvated in helium nanodroplets. These results are directly compared with those obtained previously for the corresponding X–HF complexes [J. M. Merritt, J. Küpper and R. E. Miller, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2005, 7, 67]. For bromine and iodine atoms complexed with HCN, two linear structures are observed and assigned to the ²Σ_1/2 and ²Π_3/2 ground electronic states of the nitrogen and hydrogen bound geometries, respectively. Experiments for HCN + chlorine atoms give rise to only a single band which is attributed to the nitrogen bound isomer. That the hydrogen bound isomer is not stabilized is rationalized in terms of a lowering of the isomerization barrier by spin–orbit coupling. Theoretical calculations with and without spin–orbit coupling have also been performed and are compared with our experimental results. The possibility of stabilizing high-energy structures containing multiple radicals is discussed, motivated by preliminary spectroscopic evidence for the di-radical Br–HCCCN–Br complex. Spectra for the corresponding molecular halogen HCN–X₂ complexes are also presented.