In the presence of strong acids, which of the oxygen atoms on the carboxyl group is preferentially protonated and why? a. Protonation occurs at the carbonyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate acid i stabilized by resonance.
b. Protonation occurs at the carbonyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate base is stabilized by the inductive effect.
c. Protonation occurs at the hydroxyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate acid is stabilized by resonance.
d. Protonation occurs at the hydroxyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate base is stabilized by the inductive effect.

Protonation occurs at the carbonyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate acid is stabilized by resonance.

Explanation:

The carboxyl group is an organic and a functional group that consists of a carbon atom that's singly bonded to a hydroxyl group and double-bonded to an oxygen atom.

In the presence of strong acids, protonation occurs at the carbonyl oxygen because the resulting conjugate acid is stabilized by resonance.

you need to take a look at the periodic system in order to sort these elements into pairs that would most likely exhibit similar chemical properties. first, you need to find elements that are found in the same group (groups are vertical in the periodic system), and then to see whether they have the same valence number. if they meet these criteria, they will have similar properties.

the first pair: ne (neon) and kr (krypton), are noble gases found in group 8

the second pair: li (lithium) and k (potassium), found in group 1

the third pair: s (sulfur) and te (tellurium), found in group 6