my $reftolastscalar =  \( "if(1<2){'1'}else{()}" );
my @arr =  ( "if(1<2){'1'}else{()}" );

# ref to '2' ?
# my $reftolastscalarfromlist = 
#  \('0.99', if(1>2){1}else{(1,2)} );  # does not compile

# ref to '42' ?
my $reftolastscalarfromlist = 
   \('0.99', 1>2?1:(1,42)); 

{local $, = "\n";
 print $$reftolastscalar,@arr,$$reftolastscalarfromlist,'';

# Deparses to: do { print '1','2' }; # :)
 if(1>2){print '1'}else{print ('1','2')} ; 
print '','';
}
exit 0;

########OP########## 
if(1<2){'1'}else{()}
if(1<2){'1'}else{()}
42
1
2
user@Desktop:~/Desktop$