my $L = '[A-MO-Za-mo-z]'; my $D = '[0-9N]'; $_ = '423RY75Y69827EC67592C78657N965R345U299M'; s/($L?)($D+)\1/_${1}${2}${1}_/g; print $_, "\n"; __END__ _423_R_Y75Y__69827_E_C67592C__78657N965_R_345_U_299_M