Silicon carbide, SiC (carborundum) is a hard, high melting solid and a well known abrasive.

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The mineral form of silicon carbide was named moissanite in honor of Moissan later on in his life.

At first, he mistakenly identified the crystals as diamonds, but in 1904 he identified the crystals as silicon carbide.

Boron carbide, B4C, on the other hand, has an unusual structure which includes icosahedral boron units linked by carbon atoms.

In 1898 Adolph Frank and Nikodem Caro decoupled the process and first produced calcium carbide and in a subsequent step reacted it with nitrogen to calcium cyanamide.