 In these situations, acid treatment would normally cause the alkene to become protonated, moving the double bond to the carboxylic group, changing it to a hydroxy group.The resulting allylic strain between the alcohol and the other group involved in the allylic system is so great that the reaction can not occur under normal thermodynamic conditions.This same enolization occurs much more rapidly under basic conditions, as the carboxylic group is retained in the transition state and allows the molecule to adopt a conformation that does not cause allylic strain.