Microwave or conventional oven initiation of the reaction between lith
ium nitride and anhydrous metal chloride (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) produces met
al nitride MN, dinitrogen and lithium chloride via a metathesis reacti
on. The metal nitrides were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction,
SEM, EDAX, IR, magnetic moment measurement and microanalysis.