A laser flash photolysis/long path absorption technique has been employed to study at 298 K the kinetics of aqueous phase reactions of the SO4− radical with a number of species commonly found in cloud water. Much lower radical concentrations were employed than in all previous direct studies of SO4− reaction kinetics. In the zero ionic strength limit, rate coefficients for SO4− reactions with the anions HSO3−, Cl−, NO2−, HCOO−, and CH3COO− are found to be 7.5 × 108, 2.6 × 108, 9.8 × 108, 1.1 × 108, and 3.7 × 106 M−1 s−1, respectively. Rate coefficients for SO4− reactions with the neutral species H2O2, CH3OH, HCOOH, and CH3COOH are found to be 1.2 × 107, 8.8 × 106, 4.6 × 105, and 1.4 × 104 M−1 s−1, respectively. For many of the reactions studied, agreement with previously reported rate data is poor. Of particular importance for cloud chemistry is the fact that the SO4− + HSO3− reaction proceeds more slowly than previously believed, while the SO4− + Cl− reaction is somewhat faster than previously thought. Incorporation of these results into cloud chemistry models should reduce the calculated efficiency of free radical chain reactions as an oxidation mechanism for S IV.