I think it is impossible to use this format with split. Either simplify format or use something else.

This format looks like a CSV with a dot as record separator. You could just use Text::CSV_XS:

my $data = "'Pugh.Pugh'.Barney.McGrew.Cuthbert.Dibble.Grub";

use Text::CSV_XS;

my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new({ sep_char => '.',  quote_char => "'" });
$csv->parse($data) or die "Cannot parse data";
my @fields = $csv->fields;
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--
Ilya Martynov (http://martynov.org/)