Over the last decade, advances in quantum dynamics, notably the development of the initial state selected time-dependent wave packet method, coupled with advances in constructing ab initio potential energy surfaces, have made it possible for some four-atom reactions to be addressed from first principles, in their full six internal degrees of freedom. Attempts have been made to extend the time-dependent wave packet method to reactions with more internal degrees of freedom. Here, we review the full-dimensional theory for the A + BCD four-atom reaction and use it to guide the reduced-dimensionality treatment of the X + YCZ3 reaction. Comparison of rigorous calculations with recent experiments are presented for (a) the benchmark H + H2O abstraction reaction, and (b) the H + CH4 → H2 + CH3 reaction.