The 248-nm laser flash photolysis of methyl isothiocyanate (MeNCS) was used to generate S( 3 P J ) ground state atoms in acetonitrile solution. The reaction of S( 3 P J ) atoms with the MeNCS precursor produces molecular diatomic sulfur S 2 ( 3 Σ g -) in its ground state, which possesses an absorption at ca. 270 nm. The first-order growth of this absorption was used to monitor the decay kinetics of the sulfur ( 3 P J ) atoms and to measure the rate constants for their reactions with additives. The rate constants obtained for a number of olefins, e.g., 9.7 × 10 7 M -1 s -1 for ethyl vinyl ether, hydrogen donors, e.g., 3.1 × 10 9 M -1 s -1 for tributyltin hydride, sulfur atom donors, e.g., 5.0 × 10 7 M -1 s -1 for carbon disulfide, and nucleophiles, e.g., 1.3 × 10 9 M -1 s -1 for chloride ions, demonstrate that S( 3 P J ) atoms behave as reactive, yet very selective, intermediates in solution; the highest reactivity was observed toward nitrogen and phosphorus nucleophiles, e.g., 1.2 and 2.1 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 for hydrazine and triethyl phosphite. The comparison with known nucleophilicity constants, e.g., for methyl iodide as electrophile, suggests further that S( 3 P J ) atoms act as potent but relatively soft electrophiles. The reaction modes between S( 3 P J ) atoms and the additives are assumed to involve abstractions of single atoms or addition to double bonds or lone electron pairs. The reaction rate constants for atomic sulfur S( 3 P J ) in solution are compared with previous gas phase data for S( 3 P J ) atoms and with the data for oxygen ( 3 P J ) atoms in solution.