Can this be decomposition AB plus C equals A plus B plus CA?

Answer 1

Yes & No,

You are wanting the equation:

AB + C --> A + B + CA

Your equation is no longer balanced as you started with 1 A, and end with 2 A's.

Ok, let's try an example, and to try to make a balanced equation.

Water + ethene --> Hydrogen + Oxygen + ethane.

Now, I don't know if we could actually make the reaction work, but in theory it would be possible.

Let's now substitute in the symbols and try to balance the equation.

a(H2O) + b(C2H4) --> c(H2) + d(O2) + e(C2H6)

Ok, since we're conserving the carbons, let's set b=e=1

a(H2O) + C2H4 --> c(H2) + d(O2) + C2H6

In this case... if we let d=1, then a would have to equal 2, and we get:

2(H2O) + C2H4 --> H2 + O2 + C2H6

Count our Hydrogens, Carbons, and Oxygens:

4(H) + 2(O) + 2(C) + 4(H) --> 2(H) + 2(O) + 2(C) + 6(H)

and it all balances out.

Now, looking back at your original equation...

AB + C --> A + B + CA

Let A be Hydrogen Dimer (H2), or two hydrogen atoms,
B is Oxygen Dimer (O2), or two oxygen atoms,
C is Ethene. CA is Ethane (Ethene + 2 hydrogen atoms).
And you get:

A2B + C --> A + B + CA ... pretty close.

Again, this would probably require energy, and a little handwaving to make it all work, but one can get it to balance if one had initially started with 2 A atoms/molecules.