my $char = chr(226);
my $pat = quotemeta($char);  # Create pattern that matches string
s/$pat/'/ig;

##</code><code>##

my $char = chr(226);
s/\Q$char\E/'/ig;  # Alternate way of calling quotemeta

##</code><code>##

s/\xE2/'/ig;  # 0xE2 == 226