$string='ATOM 3316 N TYR D 24 97.479 18.805 2.990 1.00 36.32 D N ATOM 3322 CD1 TYR D 24 96.225 15.974 2.812 1.00 17.96 D C'; $string=~s#((\w+) \d{4} \w TYR )D#$1X#gsi; print $string; output: ******* ATOM 3316 N TYR X 24 97.479 18.805 2.990 1.00 36.32 D N ATOM 3322 CD1 TYR D 24 96.225 15.974 2.812 1.00 17.96 D C