We have been at the forefront of solid state metathesis reactions. These reactions are fast exothermic solid state combination reactions that enable synthesis of a wide range of crystalline materials in seconds (TiN, WC, BN, MoS2, GaP...). The reactions can progress with a small controlled chemical fireball in which temperatures reach 2,000 °C in a fraction of a second. We have been able to tune the system to control composition, microstructure and crystallinity. Recent work focuses on making metal carbides such as HfC (the highest melting point of any known material) and superconducting nitrides and carbonitrides.