acid theory - which ion does the donating?

[zeta101]

I understand that with an ionic acid (when in solution), either the +ve ion OR the -ve ion can be the proton donor. Are there any ways to tell which ion does the donating by just looking at the chemical structure of the acid? I'd appreciate if someone could point me in the direction of an accepted theory that I can search for on the net.

Thanks

[shrumeo]

your question doesn't make sense entirely

if you mean by "ionic acid" to say "strong acid"
as in one that 'completely' dissociates in water, then once it's in solution there will be protons hanging around water (H30+) and anions hanging around water

when a base comes along, it will just accept the proton
if you want to say that the original anion part of the "strong acid" was the donator then, I guess you could say that

there will be no acid that donates a proton and be left with a positive charge, it will either be negative or neutral
(if there is, that would be a weird exception that i am not aware of)