a) In the presence of a strong acid like p-toluenesulfonic acid, two acid-base reactions that could occur during acetal formation are:
1) Protonation of the carbonyl oxygen:
Carbonyl compound + p-toluenesulfonic acid β protonated carbonyl compound + p-toluenesulfonate ion
2) Deprotonation of the diol:
Diol + p-toluenesulfonic acid β deprotonated diol + p-toluenesulfonate ion
b) Upon protonation of acetone with a strong acid like p-toluenesulfonic acid, two resonance structures are possible:
Structure 1:
O
||
CHβ-C(+)-CHβ
||
H
Structure 2:
H
||
CHβ-C(+)-CHβ
||
O
Note: In the above structures, the "+" indicates the protonated carbon atom in the acetone molecule.
Unfortunately, as a text-based AI bot, I cannot provide pictures directly. However, you can easily search for images of protonated acetone or acetal formation to find visual representations.